#||: Though I would need to bounce some ideas too and fro

[auntie-browning]

||: Still have the desire to add some pretty weird verses/sub-verses. Probably 3 from games I think would be interesting back drops for Browning and 1 modern verse.

||: I know for the modern verse, I have to make a seperate character sheet for the Browning analog I would make. Thinking about leaning into the bitter old lady with an agenda vibe I like about Last Long Mile but probably spicing it up. Know I would love to have her do more wet work stuff but we would have to see.

[springtyme]

Hi I was wondering if I could get your thoughts or maybe a short NSFW fic on how Richie would be during sex? He seems so sweet and thoughtful from season 2 so I’m thinking he’s a tender “making love” kinda guy but I’m not sure.

𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐖 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐡 ♡

I’d love to share my thoughts! ♡ I fully support the idea that this man is a “making love” kinda guy (but he definitely also knows how to fuck) The Richie playlist

Richie Jerimovich x afab!reader (18+ mdni!)

word count: 1.k

This man loves sex. Not in a ‘likes to get his dick wet’ kind of way (not that there's anything wrong with that). He just really loves the act of having sex with you, the person he loves. He loves the intimacy it brings, the connection that is made through sex, the opportunity to melt together and feel utterly and completely engulfed with you. 

He is the type of guy where taking care of the people he loves comes as second nature to him, and that would most definitely include sex too. 

He loves to be able to give you pleasure. Whenever he feels insecure that he isn’t enough, or when he feels bad because he just doesn’t seem to be able to find the right words to express just how precious you are to him, and how much he truly loves you, he can at least show you, and make you feel just how devoted he is to you. 

And he definitely knows what he’s doing too.  

He is a man who’s had enough experience before you got together to know just how to work you to satisfaction. Yet he is always earger to jump at any opportunity he gets to learn.

He loves learning about what really makes you feel good, taking mental notes on how you react to certain movements, and what angles and positions that always seem to get you extra fired up.

He listens and is always ready for some constructive feedback (not that he'll need a lot but it is always nice to know that you can talk free and openly about your sexlife with a partner).

He has his own insecurities, sometimes he’s afraid that he isn’t good enough for you, you are so perfect in his eyes and he is definitely not. He's scared that he will disappoint you somehow in your relationship, but how he is in the bedroom is never an area that he’s that concerned about. That is one area where he feels fully secure in his ability as a partner.

He loves exploring every single part of your body. He doesn’t get to do so as often as he’d like, though (which in his perfect world would be everyday).

Your days are often busy. With your job, and the restaurant and everything, it usually doesn't leave you with a lot of free time together most days. He usually works till late and you usually have to go to work early. But when the two of you have time to spend he really takes advantage of it. He prefers to have you climax at least two or three times before he even thinks about coming himself.   

Shower sex is usually the solution for those busy days doing the work week. Either in the morning before you have to go to work or at night after he comes back home and need some stress relief after a hectic day at the restaurant.

But he prefers to have you in bed. 

When it comes to positions I think he is a little sappy. Missionary is, and will just always be, his favorite. He just loves being able to see your face as he fucks you. You riding him comes as a close second though. But he will always be down to switch things up whenever you feel like it. 

He would probably be really into the chairman too, he just loves how close it allows you to be to each other. He’ll sit at the edge of your bed, with you on his lap as he leaves open-mouthed kisses to your exposed throat as the back of your head rest against his shoulder, and your back is pressed into his chest. He’ll always make sure to sit in a spot that gives him a view of the two of you in the full-length mirror on your wardrobe doors. 

Seeing you bounce on his cock like this, while his fingers plays with your clit always has him go a little feral, and he’ll fuck up into you from beneath, meeting each of your bounces and have you scream out with pleasure.           

I imagine him having a bit of an oral fixation. Like he just loves having his mouth on you; gently nibbling your earlobe, leaving hickeys on your neck and collarbone, biting your lower lip as he kisses you silly, sucking your tits, you name it.  

Loves to kiss you through your orgasms. Like you’ll ride him and as your pussy clamps down on his dick as you come, he’ll gently guide your head down so he can kiss you and feel the vibrations of your moans on his lips as he fuck up into you while you milk his cock as the two of you come together. 

Loves going down on you. Like this man eats pussy for the thrill of it. If he can have you sprawled out on your back for him as his face is buried between your legs, or have you sitting on his face with your thighs squeezed around him then he’s a happy man. 

Anytime he’s with you he is a happy man though. 

And he is such a cuddler afterward. He’ll hug you close to his chest as he leaves soft kisses on your shoulder, your cheek, your forehead–everywhere he can reach really.

He loves to just lie naked with you in his arms, your warm soft skin against his as you both come down from your highs. Basking in the afterglow as the world around you pauses for a moment. 

And once he’s got his senses about him he’ll pamper you. Need a damp towel, or would you like for him to run you a warm bath? A glass of water? Maybe a snack? Whatever it is he’s got you. Even if you insist that you don’t need it he’ll get it for you. 

So, yeah... That was just a few of my thoughts on the topic lol.

I’ve always had a feeling that he’d be such a giving partner in both romantic and sexual situations and I feel season two just has confirmed that further.     

[paintedscales]

WoLstinien Week -> Day 5 -> Oath

A little late, but...

Word count: 1,446

Nomin was kneeling upon the sheep wool rug that had been stretched out within the lounge, a big box in front of her. Its contents had slowly been picked away to find their place within the cabin she built upon the island sanctuary.

It felt somewhat strange.

The idea of having a permanent residence had always been a foreign concept to the nomadic auri woman. Ever since leaving the Steppe and striking out on her own, settling down had been such a non-existent notion that sitting there in the lounge and looking at how barren everything was for now felt utterly surreal. Though, the more that she sifted through the contents of the box, the more she became able to give little scoffs of amusement that this was where her life led her.

The island sanctuary had ever been a place of respite ever since Tataru had come and introduced Nomin to it.

Such needed respite. Not even just for Nomin. When Estinien visited for the first time, it was one of the few rare times that she had really been able to see him relax and simply be.

Now, and not even with the help of the mammets, Nomin sat in her cabin that she and Estinien came to call ‘home.’ It was all thanks to blueprints she had concocted with the both the masterful eye of Timbermaster Beatin of the Carpenters’ Guild, and input from some of her other guildmates who had all been too happy to help her plan something far more grand than lances, pattens, bows, or whatever. Especially if it meant getting to help and interact with someone with no small amount of renown.

Nomin drew in a deep breath Then a cough was expelled with a hint of regret to the grimace that befell her face. The scent of the wood finish had not entirely aired out in the days that they left the cabin alone. However, as repugnant as the lingering scent was, the subtle hints of palm could be caught between it all.

The aetherial tug at the back of her neck was felt before the sound of boots walking up the steps to the cabin were heard. Looking over her shoulder, Nomin spied the top of Estinien’s head from the window. A smile grew upon her lips as she stood from her kneeling position, a wooden sheep figure in her hands that was soon placed back within the confines of the box.

Estinien paused at the door frame that separated the outside world from the newly made interior of the cabin. Raising an arm and placing it against the frame, he gave a gentle scoff as he beheld the auri woman smiling back at him. A soft, thoughtful hum came from his throat, and he soon spoke: “I thought I would find you in here if you were not tending the gardens. Sadly, I cannot say I found any of the imports you were looking for from Limsa now that I am back.”

“Ah…it’s of no consequence. Another time, perhaps!” Nomin chirped, her tail swaying to and fro shallowly as she hid her minor disappointment at the news. Her eyes flicked up, gazing at Estinien’s hand as the glint from the sun’s rays bounced off the silver band upon his ring finger.

Yet another thing that felt utterly surreal. The weight of her own ring always became more noticeable when she saw Estinien wearing his. Especially since the Eorzean custom differed greatly than one delivering particular presents to have been accepted for engagement that she had heard about and seen when she grew up on the Steppe.

“Making good progress, I trust?” Estinien’s voice snapped Nomin from her thoughts, and she nodded rather enthusiastically at his question.

“I’ve laid out some of the rugs – getting the furniture built and placed shouldn’t cause too much trouble to the floors now,” Nomin replied. “And I’ve taken care of some of the other smaller arrangements that can be taken care of. I’m looking forward to tending to more of the flower garden in the back!”

The typical grunt of a laugh was what Nomin heard from Estinien as he smirked with amusement and stood upright. “I imagine you are. So, at the very least, I did find some seeds at the markets and purchased some. Local ones to start – though I do not imagine you mind too much?”

“I’ll only mind if what you spent on them means seeing many zeros after a one or anything higher,” Nomin joked, walking toward the elezen man as he removed a sack of assorted seeds from his satchel. It was handed off to the xaela’s possession, her eyes looking at the rings they wore as the sack was passed off.

“Hmph!” Estinien seemed a little indignant about the jab. “Trust me, though I am aware anyone sending me to the markets would incur Tataru’s wrath, ‘tis yours I would rather not see to surface. Coinkeeper or no, yours would certainly be something anyone with any onze of sanity would regret.”

“I’m not sure that’s exactly a compliment, but…it’s not exactly a scathing remark, either.” Nomin opened up the sack of seeds and pushed around the paper packages within, reading the labels with a smile. “Regardless, thank you for the seeds, my Sun. I’ll have to refer to some of my teachings alongside the Sagahl to see if anything in the book I was given will help.”

Estinien gave a long, contented sigh before turning and taking a seat upon the porch steps. Nomin soon joined him, enjoying being out from the walls of the house and feeling the sea breeze on her skin. Taking in another breath, the wood finish was less pungent being downwind of it now. Refreshing is what this breath of air was – more so with the prospect of having a home and sharing it with someone she loved.

“I am sure you have nothing to actually worry about. You certainly know a good deal more than I,” Estinien said – an attempt at reassuring her in his own way.

“Mm…” Nomin gave a small hum of consideration. “Well, depending on what we have here, I may very well be glad to have some of these flowers for our ceremony.”

“Is that right?”

“Sure! Imagine – a small event with just our closest friends~ All dressed up and among fragrant hibiscus, or striking bromeliads, or some cute little cyclamen and jasmine. Ooh!” Nomin gasped at her own thoughts, the tickling giddiness traveling through her. “Blanket flowers, amaryllis, and violets for a lovely dusk theme?”

“I have a feeling your imagination far outstrips my own. Especially since I cannot even think of what more than half of those flowers even are,” Estinien admitted with a soft chuckle. He leaned over and draped his arm over the back of Nomin’s neck and shoulders. “But if you have it in your mind’s eye, I shall reiterate what I have told you before: I will trust in your judgment. Even if…it is not within the heat of combat nor an allegiance made with those outside our own.”

Estinien then reached over with his free hand and took Nomin’s left one within it. His gaze dropped to the ring, and he then lifted her hand while angling his left upward somewhat to draw attention to both rings in general. Estinien’s was silver, and Nomin’s was gold. Both rings had intertwined circles symbolizing their bond. Both were also symbolic of their roles to one another in a metaphorical sense that had been important to Nomin’s roots.

The silver moon would light Estinien’s night, and guide him even in the darkest of times – as she had done prior when Nidhogg had him under enthrallment. The golden sun would shine brightly and remind Nomin that together they would reach another day, another dawn with one another – as he had served to remind her even when things seemed near hopeless.

“You are not subtle,” Estinien tenderly spoke, pressing his cheek against the side of Nomin’s horn before softly kissing it. “I do notice when you look at them. So allow me to remind you that these rings are a physical reminder of our oath to one another. Those spoken before, and those yet to be said.”

“So…” Nomin started, her voice quieting to match Estinien’s. She smiled to herself with a light giggle, her words finally finding themselves. “So profound over the prospect of having flowers at our ceremony.”

“Only reminding you of what needs to be remembered before you find yourself in another spiral of thoughts over something that may not need as much thought as you perceive it now.”

[askatriangleandastar]

OOOOO

Oh these sounds really fun!! Just reading what you shared, some of them make me want to bounce the ideas around and find out more about the characters to put the puzzle together. What a nice motivator to get through all 35 episodes ^^)

This might just be rambling but motivated rambling all the same

Sincerely tho that is a GREAT POINT for why Lady Luck is the route Inventor has turned to for knowledge!! And what you suggested of hooking another minion :00

CO-OP DICE!! I'd be so neat if it could happen in game despite how much there'd be to juggle- and the odd functionality of this pair. That the 2 party members who go through the most changes in styles of fighting and gear with backgrounds for being vigilant, would in turn pick up on the sandpit trap of this place and the loss of veneer from their Host as they persist and seek out someone else who gets it.

The contrast between Thief and Inventor but how they might be able to work well together in part from that.... Like gears that move in different directions are what keep the clock ticking in time. They push each other forward and respect the self-oriented goals: selflessness doesn't get money nor information from where either are hidden away.

The sheer absurdity of 5ft cubes in an apartment building is making me laugh and also get excited about accommodation shenanigans. The trust building and silliness on getting around reaching the cabinetry and getting back on the ground: A Jester's Ballad XD

If Jester has feelings for Lady Luck... the want to be free in conflict with the want to see her and be by her. :0 If that came to a boiling point at the offer of freedom at the cost of others- spicy drama in the style of refusal that follows ooooo

It could even be entirely selfish in motivation- the irony of after so long being a part of the act this is the first time she's listening. You said relationship angst wouldn't mesh well with the tone of the game and it being overt during the game? For sure. That's not at all the show Lady Luck is putting on and she'd likely pull the focus away from it.

Yet the potential of the offer being made to Jester from behind the red curtains, in that nebulous part of the stage when the viewers are cut off and backstage meshes with the darkened empty front, spooky like a crossroads of velvet and still-warm-bulbs buzzing as they dim out. . . I might just need to play the game more that 7 hours, but feels like something could be there. Maybe even a layer to it of it being the rare conditions of facades failing or being made to fall while the balance of between them shifts. Even if only temporarily in this moment where the only witnesses are each other. Can you tell I love Yugioh and well-written Seto Kaiba fics ansnks

Idk social media the best but the contrast in styles of presentation and substance and attitudes sounds like a good mix! The contrast of the old ways of magic against the new ways its known up above- world building through speculation between them on the other! And the best part is the unreliability of both parties leaving pocket space for corrections and simply being wrong/lying for the flow of the conversation and knowing the other person might not have the means to challenge it. Misinformation is to social media skillset as misdirection is to a show host's- different feathers, still a bird.

I can very much relate to flavoring with parts of yourself for cooking up story ideas or fuel for the basis of a “what-if”! :D I still do it to today with writing with friends, though overall it's harder for me to write stories with the overall stressor going on irl ^^; Learning when you're putting too much of yourself in the pot and pulling back is a valuable skill, and I'm glad you're doing better! Getting wiser can be rough and tumble but progress comes over time and coping is a complicated process. Hope things keep looking up for ya! 💛🧡

Warrior seeing what's going in and it's a mix of not picking up on the clues and approaching it from the most good-faith possible has been my impression so far. So combining that with the back and forth you mentioned, the check-ins with each person having a different outlook on Warrior's progression and the point where Jester understands where Warrior is coming from being when they're able to be convinced to help. The folly of Warrior not even considering Jester could fail once they agreed to help because he's thinking nothing could stop them working together....

“Look at a situation too brightly and you'll walk right into the potholes” -sort of consequences. It was always going to take more than just their teamwork. It was always going to take more than Warrior's best efforts and spirits. What's the result of the unyielding force meeting the unmoving object and it's consequences? Probably detailed to some degree in those 35 episodes my gosh I wasn't ready but it's also really fun speculation!

The visual of the crew riding the car from the Wheel out of the Dungeon with flair and cheese my friends have relayed to me the Supernatural Impala possesses, only for the epic road trip to nosedive from mechanical failures [Lady Luck: When was it last "Serviced"?? The only service around here is all of you to me- no one was ever supposed to actually WIN THE THING, Ned! Oh but it's of no consequence- the mortal who supplied it guaranteed it was in top shape. Those fools will be back without issue.] <- was ironically scammed and the car is a lemon 🍋

XDDD the mix of reactions at realizing they're in trouble while looking at the car, and more and more unfortunate happenstance piles on along the way back. So much silliness.

⭐⭐⭐

Id love to hear your ideas if you have any you'd like to share! Either from stories you've put down or concepts you have in the spares drawer!

(⭐fanfic writers' commentary)

Hmm… spares you say..?

I wrote a lot of rough drafts for the other stories in my 'Fixing the Dice' collection (uncertain on the name still), but I didn't feel they were up to my standards so I never published them. I think I'd probably change some of their plots if/when I rewrite them, so I feel safe sharing these.

You probably won't see these exact concepts come to light though. sorry.

Thief is planning an escape route with Inventor. The story focuses on showcasing the tensions he has in the main campaign with the other contestants; I picked Inventor as the character for him to bounce off of because she's crafty in a different way, and picks up on the dungeons being rigged the fastest along with him.

I don't think I ever figured out whether Lady Luck was gonna come into it for the main story, but she does show up at the end and point a finger at Inventor to be like 'that's the guy you're trusting. lmao'

From what I remember this was the draft I liked the most. It was pretty tonally solid. I think I ran out of stamina when it came to writing because I was under so much stress at the time. Also I struggled a bit with characterisation between the two, since the dice tend to be a lot shorter on dialogue than Lady Luck and Jester.

I think Witch was supposed to have a live interview with Lady Luck on her own request, which, as you can predict, doesn't go very well against someone much more experienced in entertainment and rooting for your downfall. I think I might've also had another way earlier version of her doing some fighting and magic, but I never wrote that down

I quit that one because I didn't have much to really say in it. Maybe a theme of influencer culture versus the entertainment industry? I suppose, but I don't care about either of those. I had a couple of ideas about a discussion about peoples' beliefs in magic and luck and whatever, but that felt a bit out of hand for a study on Witch's personality, who's like. A instagram user

…maybe I could make that contrast of attitudes work, actually. Try and reproduce the vibe of Eric Andre's 'did Margaret Thatcher effectively use girl power'. It'd probably still be a bastard to work with, tone-wise, but who knows?

I like to write these stories with a pinch of my own insecurities as the driving force, and I didn't really have any regarding fame at that point, so Witch was really hard to brainstorm for.

Warrior… I wanted to have him play off Jester and Lady Luck at the same time. He was kind of hard to think of a 'deal' for since he's the simplest of the four contestants in terms of character, and doesn't really pick up on Lady Luck's subtle-not-subtle evilness. The idea was instead to make this was a hope spot in the series between him and Jester, and have him trust Jester to help them find a way out, which ultimately fails.

I really struggled to find a setting for this. In the draft I wrote, I settled on a game-show-mandated road trip (they get to touch grass for one hour) out of the dungeons in that fancy car on the wheel. But it just didn't really work well tonally at all, and I personally have no experience on awkward car journeying at all, so.

Inventor I'm actually rewriting now. I've been posting snippets of it on my blog, even, since I'm no longer in contact with some of the friends who used to be my beta readers.

I don't want to spoil its new premise, but I will say the tone has changed massively from 'let's watch this nerd run around in a saw trap and solve maths puzzles that imply that the universe and all knowledge in it is fundamentally doomed' to 'Inventor's urge to know about everything in the dungeons and the world' versus 'WHY ARE YOU ASKING HER ABOUT IT'. It's a slight change, but I think it works way better with the ending I'm planning to use.

It's got a bit of commentary about how the general public reacts badly to maths and you only find respite from that with people who have learnt it sorta deal. I think Lady Luck would be the kind of deity who definitely knows the rules of her domain, given she's the one who designs the puzzles in-universe and is otherwise quite crafty, but obviously doesn't want to tell anyone any of that.

Unless. Well, unless she can get a new minion out of it.

…It's a fun time. I promise c: Now I just need to do research to make sure everything STEM-related I put in there is correct…

Jester was going to fail backstage. A fun reminder of how I was one of the few people who failed that level first try because I didn't realise it was a gimmick fight until half-way through >.>

I struggled with writing the action in this, since that's not usually a focal point of my writing. I felt that it would be useful for building up tension to an anti-climax, and we could have he rest of the story be a sense of failure and being stuck in life, but what actually ended up being written down just felt like a really stilted tonal shift from one bit I felt was obligatory to another I actually felt like doing.

also it played a little to one of my personal headcanons of Jester having a one-sided crush on their boss, with the scraps of recognition they have keeping them going despite the fact they can't leave the dungeons. This was definitely the least canon-compliant thing I put in the series, but I think it's still an interesting concept.

I will be honest. I don't think I would've handled it well. relationship angst doesn't work well with Dicey's mostly lighthearted tone I think. Nowadays I'd rather explore it with the jokey Pride Month DLC my brain cooked up because 'toxic yuri' and 'turbo divorce' are among my favourite words in the English langauge.

…not to get too personal but I think I was kind of putting way too many of my fears into that first draft and using writing it as an unhealthy coping mechanism. so. uhh. yeah after I got called out on that I was a bit embarassed and stopped. I think I'm in a better position nowadays, but as a result of that I don't really have a solid idea of where the tone would go on that story if I wrote it now.

I never really figured out what I wanted to happen to Jester in that fic. One potential ending had them being forced to cohost, like they'd always wanted. Another has the confrontation with their boss just kind of end on an impasse as they refuse to break. I think there was a bit where Lady Luck offers them their own escape at the cost of everyone else, which they did definitely refuse.

A bonus: I think I wrote one story about Warrior helping Jester move into an apartment or something after they got released. It was supposed to be a thing about finally getting to live your life the way you wanted and whatnot. I stopped writing that because I couldn't fucking fit the tone with the fact they were 5 foot tall cubes in my head

[feastfic]

HI ITS ME AGAIN. THE GAY BOY.

I have this very specific idea and its literally so...

Imaginne Lord x havinga MAJOR crush on you. He just can't stop thinking about you and how small you are compared to him. He tries to keep himself level headed and go about things normaly but he Just Can't.

One day, you're helping him patch up from a scuffle he got out pretty battered up of and you accidentally blurt out that you love him and he just. Kisses you. Because FINALLY. AFTER SO LONG of trying to be level headed he knows that you reciprocate it so he takes his chace.

Sorry if this is too long omg. I swear im normal ab him

GWEHE MUTUAL PINING BABYYY I love this idiot so much bro <333

You were everything that he could've wanted in a soul to reap. And it should've been left at that. You should've just been someone he would've loved to play the game of the hunt with. Somehow, though, you'd managed to transcend that for him. He caught himself, time and time again, thinking about you. You were more than just a wonderful toy for him to play with until he tired of this game; you yourself were wonderful.

This was no time for him to be distracted by such things. He had no need for such things like thoughts like those. They'd only impede on his hunt. Yet he still has you haunting his mind, like a soul he'd claimed had somehow, in some way, managed to pervade his head, pestering him incessantly. And of all things for this theoretical soul to taunt him with, it had to pick you. You, you, you. He hated it, and he'd have hated you for how much he thought about you, if only you weren't so...astoundingly remarkable. It stupefied him. How had you managed to do this to him?

How had he managed to be able to come in close contact with you? Now you two met every few days. He'd long forgone trying to take your soul from you, though he still subjects you to his "games" every now and again (he won't ever tell you that they're supremely watered-down versions of what he really does. Something inside him would eat at him if he hurt someone as precious as you.)

Himself, though? Oh, he couldn't care less about what happened to himself. He was virtually unkillable, so what did it matter to him if he emerged from skirmishes tattered and bloody? He'd always be the victor nonetheless. Nothing else was as indestructible as him.

Care not as he did about the aftermath of his battles, he anticipated the aftermath of the aftermath. Initially he'd gone to you out of curiosity; how would you react to seeing him like this? (How the horror, shock and concern on your face was so intoxicating to him.) But he did it to sort out his own thoughts on you. How he felt about you quickly became pinpricks of new and confused emotions to an overwhelming drive. A desire, for you, you, only you.

This time he was more beat up than he'd ever thought he would be. That sorry soul had put up a hell of a fight — and how much he loved a challenge like that! He craved more people who wouldn't just run from him; those who fought back were something he got so incredibly hot for, second only to you.

And speaking of, there you were, just within sight. Just within reach of him. There was no need for him to limp, he was not one to feel or at least acknowledge his pain. And besides, he had something more than just his bloody body to show you this time.

You had known since day one that you were dealing with what could be considered the grim reaper in a demonic hedgehog disguise. But this time when you saw his form approaching you, you saw something between his hands. Glowing in violently bright colors, exuding light upon the Lord's half-closed hands and the bottom of his face. It was almost enough to distract you from his condition.

"What was it this time?" You stood up anxiously, meeting him somewhere in the middle as you stepped towards him.

"That's the thing. Look." And so Lord X lifted his hands to better show you the miniature star in his palms, how it bounced around to and fro in some invisible forcefield, like it were trying to find a means of escape. Its hue ranged from sparking electric green, to angry blood red. X's eyes caught it all, delighted at this spectacle. "You know what this is?" He didn't wait for an answer. "It's a soul from a fighter. Look at how much it tries to break free. So many others would just pace around."

You knew that this was the remains of a departed person, and so your heart painfully twitched at the sight. But it was so interesting all the same; you were sure that nobody else aside from Lord X himself had ever seen a soul in this state. He observed your reaction carefully, his eyes lidded as the soul's light reflected off your own. And then he smiled and crushed the spirit of this nobody between his hands, revelling in the echoing outcry of a person forever lost in an abyssal limbo, and the way you jumped back as you were snapped out of your trance.

Ah, right. You had something else to take care of. Well, someone. "Come on." You take the arm that is the least battered, tugging him into a kneeling position as you reached behind yourself back to where you originally had sat, pulling over a decently sized medkit. You were shaking; you'd done this so many times before with him, but you supposed seeing him destroy a person's fiber of being right in front of you...yeah, that shook you up bad.

X took notice of your shakiness, and the troubled complexion on your face. As much as he'd have loved to watch you so concerned over him, after enough times of this happening he knew that you valued decently tending to him. Which involved steady hands.

You stopped everything as you felt a soft and warm hand brush against one of yours, nearly dropping the stitch thread you were holding. Your breath caught in your throat and you shook your head to try and shake off your tension; but then the Lord's voice was low in your ear, and you felt your eyes sting slightly. He was being gentle with you — and after what he'd just done a few minutes ago you just wondered why.

"Just breathe." He urged you, and you could feel your racing pulse in his hand that held your own. "Get yourself settled first before focusing on me." You tried to listen to him, to do as he said. But the softness of his voice was so different from how he was normally brazen and gruff, that it almost scared you. And you didn't even know why.

Your hand closed around his, and you squeezed your eyes shut and breathed in deep. One minute passed, then two, then three. And finally you let out a sigh that made your shoulders fall; and with it, you'd stopped shaking. You reached for the bandages, and turned to face him.

As you focused on closing and covering his wounds, you were remarkably quiet, avoiding his gaze that so observantly watched you. Noting your lack of conversation; normally you were at least somewhat talkative.

All that came out of you was a soft, exasperated; "I love you, but you gotta stop doing this." It was under your breath, like you didn't want him to hear it. But oh, he did. He did, and he wanted to hear that out of you again so bad.

You thought your heart had sped up again, or that you'd started shaking. So you pulled back, and looked up to X to apologize before realizing that no — this time it was him. He looked utterly delighted, and like he were holding himself back from throwing himself at you. And oh, he was! After a second too, he wasn't able to stop himself from doing just that. His heart was pounding fast and hard against your chest, sending you into the most passionate surprise kiss that you thought you'd ever get. He hardly gave you time to react to anything. He'd waited what had felt like an eternity to hear those words from you; ever since he'd first cursed you for haunting his thoughts he'd wondered what it'd sound like. It was so much better than he could've ever imagined.

You were left nearly gasping for breath when he finally decided to pull himself away from you, your face hot and flush while X barked a laugh out at you. Weren't you just adorable, all blown back because of him. His muzzle was pulled into a wide and toothy grin, as he held your chin underneath a hand to keep your eyes on him.

"I love you too."

[whoiwanttoday]

Georgia Fowler did some pictures for Abercrombie and Fitch and to be honest, I am uncertain if they are even new or not, just because since she had her baby she hasn't done a ton of new work. That's understandable, her job is demanding and her body is her medium and having a baby can be pretty stressful on the body. Also, maybe she just doesn't want to. I bet holding a baby is a lot more fun than standing under hot lights while someone tells you to look sexier. Anyway, I was struck by how sorta tame the pictures were. There is nothing wrong with them, she looks good and certainly I am not criticizing her but I remember when Abercrombie and Fitch basically just littered their walls with soft core homo-erotic porn. Their bags were always black and white photos of topless people with water or sweat dripping down their torsos as they pushed against each other. I remember once a friend borrowed my crock pot and a couple of other small things and they returned it in an Abercrombie and Fitch bag and it sat in my living room for a couple days before I was like, "I need to unpack that because having that bag just sit around makes me look really lonely for some reason". I also didn't know the store ever still existed honestly. I remember when it was the next big thing in the 90's. I went into one as a high school senior and found it overwhelmingly cool. The music was loud and all the people there were a few years older than me and looked at me with nothing but contempt and disdain, thus solidifying the idea that I needed to try to be more like them. I remember I walked out that first time with a bucket hat and a top and like This Charming Man was bouncing through my head as I thought about how everyone would think it was gruesome that someone so handsome should wear such amazing clothes. But you know, away from the too loud music and the derisive staff, it wasn't very special and not a single person ever commented on that top. People did comment on the bucket hat but just because while bucket hats were huge in the 90's everyone thought it looked dumb. I clung to it fro a while but it never suddenly made me cool. No men or women swooned or walked around half naked and covered in sweat near me because of it. Anyway, that's a long way of saying the pictures are fine but mainly because Georgia Fowler is beautiful. I don't think they'd get me to buy dumb hats or even what she's wearing. Nice to see her again though. Today I want to fuck Georgia Fowler.

[awhitehead17]

Batfam Alphabet: K - Kryptonian’s

Summary: After noticing how everyone is busy meeting up with someone who is either a Kryptonian or even a Kent that day, Dick notices how he’s the only one in the family that doesn’t have a Kryptonian partner.

Enjoy! :D

“C’mon Damian, let’s go! We’re going to be late!”

Dick pauses from where he’s walking through the foyer and looks up to find Tim shouting for their younger brother as he hurries down the stairs. When he reaches the bottom the teenager rushes to the door and throws it open and impatiently waits in the doorway as he checks his watch every few seconds.

Raising an eyebrow, Dick glances at the top of the stairs but doesn’t find any sign of Damian. He turns back to Tim. “What’s the rush?”

Tim blinks and stares at him for a moment like he’s just noticing Dick’s presence for the first time. With his eyes flicking to and fro Tim huffs in annoyance and taps his foot restlessly. “We’re meeting Conner and Jon at Amusement Mile but we’re running late because a certain someone can’t apparently keep track of the time!”

Dick frowns, suddenly feeling concerned for his brothers’ safety. “Is going there a wise idea?”

With a wave of his hand Tim dismisses his concern. “It’ll be fine. At the end of the day we’re all trained and it’s only a phone call away if anything does happen. Kon and Jon are there so if we do need an emergency evac we can get out of there quickly.”

Before Dick could respond a new voice joins the conversation.

“We have plenty of time Drake, don’t be so impatient.”

Both Dick and Tim look up to find Damian now descending down the stairs at a leisurely pace, obviously not in such a hurry as Tim is. Dick wonders if Damian is doing it purposely to annoy Tim or because they do have a lot of time to spare and Tim is just being overly-cautious.

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little early or even on time brat.” Tim snaps at him, glaring as Damian reaches the bottom of the staircase. “Now come on, we’re wasting time.”

Without even so much a goodbye Tim spins around and hurries out the door once Damian approaches. Damian tuts but follows behind Tim saying “Bye Grayson” as he passes Dick on the way out of the door.

It takes Dick a moment to react, his mind catching up with the fact that Damian and Tim are hanging out together, seemingly willingly with one other. He blinks and shouts after them, “don’t kill one another! Stay safe and remember to call if anything happens!”

Neither brother responds to him but Dick rationalises he’s done what he could, if something happens between them he is not to blame. Maybe he should message Conner to ask him to check in and to make sure they behave. The Kryptonian brothers get along unlike Tim and Damian so his caution is reasonable as them two together is certainly a questionable matter. In the end he decides against it, instead choosing to wait and see what the end result of the day looks like.

Eventually he shuts the front door and continues on his way with what he had been doing before the sudden distraction.

------

Dick’s route through the foyer is interrupted again not even an hour later, only this time because of the group of girls gathered there. Dick stops and stares at the scene unsure on how to proceed, should he make his way through them or go around them?

Steph, Cass, Barbara and even Kara are grouped together giggling about something. Seeing three of them together is rather normal but he is surprised to see Kara around.

Before Dick could decide on what action to take he’s spotted by Steph. The blonde waves enthusiastically at him. “Hey Dick! How are things? Don’t mind us we’re moving to the media room now.”

The other girls turn and face him. Cass and Kara give him a smile and a small wave in greeting while Barbara shoots him a bland look. He wouldn’t expect anything else from her.

As Dick is about to move he’s stopped short by Kara addressing him. She points up to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. “Dick, is it true that you used to often climb up there and hang from it?”

Dick glances up and his mind is suddenly ambushed with fond memories of when he was a kid and used to do acrobatics from said chandelier. Alfred used to give him hell for it, particularly after he accidently broke one when he got a bit too bold trying a new move.

He smiles and looks back at Kara nodding. “Yeah, that’s true. More often than you would think believe it or not. I did it less frequently as I got older though.”

Kara snorts with amusement. “I can totally see Jon doing something like that, rao, even Conner would try something like that.”

“Considering who they’re friends with, that doesn’t surprise me.” Steph comments laughing. “Well lets get to it! See you later Dick!”

Steph takes off down the corridor towards the media room with a bounce in her step. Kara sends him one more smile and follows her, Cass comes up to him and stands on her tip toes to place a kiss on his cheek before following them and finally Barbara sends him a wistful smile before trailing behind the girls, clearly also remembering what he used to be like back then.

Once they disappear from view it takes Dick a moment to move, his mind thinking about what just happened. He didn’t even realise they were friends with Kara. He doesn’t even know how they know each other, then again he doesn’t follow every move the girls make, they’ve probably had cases that have crossed over a time or two. Shaking his head he lets it go and continues on with his day.

----

When Dick bumps into Bruce in the kitchen later on that day he feels like there’s a pattern forming.

He’s sat at the kitchen island minding his own business as he eats his lunch and mindlessly going through Facebook, Alfred is pottering about also minding his own business, when Bruce rushes in looking a little frazzled.

Dick watches mollified as Bruce darts about the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards left right and centre clearly looking for something which he doesn’t find straight away. As soon as he came in, Alfred simply stood to the side and allowed Bruce to freely search the place patiently waiting for the inevitable to happen.

After searching every cupboard and draw available Bruce turns to Alfred and before the man could say anything Alfred simply holds out his hand revealing a travel mug. Bruce suddenly looks so relieved and gratefully takes the mug out of the butler’s hand with a breathless “thank you”.

“You are a saint Alfred, there’s no way I’m going to be able to cope today without this.” Bruce determines already taking a sip of the mug’s contents.

Dick blinks, completely lost to what’s happening, especially when all Alfred does is nod as he had been expecting that reaction the entire time.

“What is going on?” He blurts out without meaning too. The two men turn and face him, Alfred looking passive and Bruce looking surprised at his presence. Has Dick become invisible or something? That’s the same reaction Tim had that morning in the foyer.

“Oh, afternoon Dick, I completely missed you sat there.” Bruce says looking a little sheepish, a look that isn’t common on the man though Dick’s seen it more than enough times at this point in his life. “I have a meeting with Clark and the rest of the League members. I’m running a bit behind schedule but not enough to not grab my coffee before heading off. I won’t be back until late, don’t wait for me before going out tonight.”

With that statement Bruce leaves the kitchen with the travel mug clutched tightly in his hands. Dick shoots Alfred a surprised look but the elderly man has already turned around and continued with his task.

Sighing Dick turns his attention back on his half eaten lunch and goes back to scrolling through his Facebook newsfeed. Quickly getting bored of it, he places his phone down and strikes up a conversation with Alfred, the man appears more than happy to converse with him as he works.

After a while Alfred breaks their conversation, sending Dick an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Master Dick but I’m going to have to excuse myself. I have a scheduled phone call to make in a few moments.”

Dick stares, caught off guard by the reason. “What? Who with?” After he says it he realises how bad and how patronizing it sounds. He immediately winces and apologises.

Alfred merely looks amused at his behaviour, thankfully not taking any offense to it. “If you have to know Master Dick, I have a call with Mrs Martha Kent. We’re going to be comparing recipes and giving some recommendations.”

“Okay…”

Alfred leaves the kitchen then, leaving Dick all by himself in the room as his mind reels back over the last hour or so to what’s happened. Is everyone busy today or something?

Finally finishing his lunch, Dick clears his mess up and wanders out of the kitchen trying to decide what to do for the rest of the day.

-----

The next thing to happen which adds to the odd feeling he’s been having throughout the day is when he bumps into Selina in the corridor of the bedrooms wing. He’s heading towards his own room when he notices Selina strutting her way towards him.

His eyes widen as he takes in her outfit. She’s wearing a low cut black blouse paired off with tight leather pants and high heels. She’s wearing a golden necklace with matching bracelets on her wrists and her face done up with perfect looking make-up. The shadowing around her eyes make them stand out along with the boldness of her lipstick which helps define her facial features.

Dick stops in his tracks and watches as she approaches. When she’s close enough she stops and sends him a smile.

“Hot date?” Dick asks with a grin. He can’t help but be curious on why she’s dressed up like that. Bruce isn’t around and there’s no party that he’s aware of happening. Unless she plans on crashing the meeting Bruce happens to be in, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened…

Her smiles turns more devious, “Not quite birdie,” she drawls out. She places her hands on her hips and cocks them to one side. “I’m meeting with Lois Lane. There’s a certain… get together we’re attending and I tend to make a statement.”

Dick’s eyes widen in surprise, he hadn’t been expecting that. He knows that Selina and Lois know one another, he’s seen them interact with each other enough times at gala’s both Bruce and Clark have attended too but he didn’t know they were that close.

After a couple beats he sends her an easy smile. “Well, I’m certain you’re going to make a statement alright.”

“Thank you kitten,” she replies patting his cheek softly, “now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going.” She saunters past him, continuing down the hallway clearly ready to kick some ass. Selina is the personification of the saying ‘looks can be deceiving’.

“Have fun!” Dick calls out to her retreating form.

As he enters his room Dick is struck by a thought that even Selina is busy that day. It’s really starting to appear that he's the only one without any plans or even someone to meet up with. It suddenly makes him feel lonely, it’s an irrational feeling but he couldn’t help feel it temporarily, maybe it’s jealously of his family all currently hanging out with someone or each other. It’ll soon pass when everyone is back home and skulking around looking for stuff to do out of boredom.

----

Half an hour later and Dick knows he's had enough. It seems like the last straw has been drawn and how the universe has decided to rub salt into the wound.

Dick’s not even out of his bedroom doorway before he’s stopping short at the sight of two beings walking past him. He blinks and looks down the hallway with furrowed eyebrows and seconds later it registers who he’s seeing.

“Jason?”

His brother stops in the middle of the hallway and turns around to face him. He looks surprised for a moment before his expression goes back to neutral. “Oh, hey Dick.”

“What are you doing?” He questions his brother, his gaze slipping to Jason’s companion. Bizarro stands next to Jason, his eyes drifting between the two of them as he watches them interact with a frown.

Jason jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “We’re heading out now as we’re about to meet Artemis.”

Dick runs a hand over his face taking in the new information. “How long has Bizarro been here?”

His brother sends him perplexed look. “Uh, like all day? Did you not know that?”

“No. No I didn’t.”

“Oh,” Jason shrugs, not bothered by his answer, “well whatever. As I said we’re heading out now, so see ya! Say bye bye, Bizarro.”

“Bye bye.” Bizarro calls out to him with a wave of his hand.

Dick half heartedly waves back as he watches them disappear down the hallway. Once they were gone Dick slips back into his room and shuts the door behind him, completely forgetting the original reason why he had been leaving in the first place.

He goes over to his bed and flops down on it with a heavy sigh. Jason, even Jason, is busy and has company. How is it only him who isn’t doing anything? Usually it’s the other way around, where he’s always trying to find time in his schedule to meet up with his friends, family or to have some time for himself.

Burying his face into his pillow he sighs dejectedly, feeling sorry for himself. Dick frowns, maybe that’s not the right term, would jealously be more accurate or maybe loneliness is better suited. Whatever the word is for what he’s feeling, he knows it’s pretty much unwarranted. He should be happy that all of his siblings and extended family are out being sociable, they all have hectic and unpredictable lives, taking any free time a person has to spend it with those they care about is worth it.

Dick shouldn’t be annoyed with his family because he’s the one currently holed up in his bedroom sulking because he doesn’t have anyone to be with. It’s not their fault.

Something else he notices is how everyone seems to have their own Kryptonian, or by extension a Kent.

There's Bruce and Clark, though Bruce will deny their friendship at every opportunity. Tim and Conner, who are best friends (maybe more, Dick’s not quite sure). Damian and Jon, as much as the former is reluctant to admit how much he cares for the younger. Steph, Cass, Barbara and Kara who are all apparently friends. Selina and Lois. Alfred and Mrs Kent. Jason and Bizarro.

He’s the only one without a Kryptonian partner. While he’s worked with Clark a few times and has connected with him, after all Clark’s the one who inspired him to become Nightwing, it’s not the same thing.

After spewing in his thoughts for a while, Dick comes to a conclusion that sleep sounds like the best option right now. If he sleeps then he’s not thinking, and as a bonus at the same time his body is resting and extra rest never hurts anyone.

He shifts on his mattress, getting into a more comfortable position to sleep in, and buries his head further into his pillow. Closing his eyes he tries to force his body into unconsciousness. His eyes snap open only seconds later when his phone pings from it’s place on his bedside table.

Stuck between being excited for a message and dreading it, Dick reaches out and grabs the device. Rolling over onto his back he lifts his phone up in front of his face and reads the notification. Seeing who the message is from, a wide grin stretches across Dick’s face and any dread he had been feeling instantly disappears. It seems like the universe has finally decided to side with him (or that it’s had enough of him moping) because it’s a message from his long time old friend Wally West.

‘Hey man it’s been waaaayyyyyy too long. Are you free to hang out any time soon – we need to catch up bro.’

Dick agrees with the message, it has been too long since they last saw one another. From what Dick heard last is how Wally’s been busy helping out in Central City, his relationship with Linda is progressing smoothly, he’s been helping to train his cousin and how he’s been away on a mission with Jay. Dick had thought Wally was still away, hence why he hadn’t contacted him but obviously he’s wrong about that.

Dick types out a reply to his friend, feeling eager and excited to meet up. ‘I’m free right now if you are. C’mon over to the Manor when you can?’

It takes a few moments for Wally to respond. ‘Absolutely. Though will Bats have my ass if I just show up?’

Dick snorts, of all the things to be concerned about… ‘No. You’re fine. B’s in a meeting.’

‘Okay! I’ll be there in a flash ;D’

It’s stupid but Dick couldn’t help chuckle at the poor joke. No doubts on how Wally’s picked up that behaviour from Barry.

Feeling jittery, Dick rolls off his bed and begins making his way downstairs so he could greet Wally by the door. He doesn’t know what they’ll do other than talk to catch up and possibly raid the kitchen at the same time. Dick doesn’t mind what they do, at least he finally has someone to hang out with!

Just as Dick reaches the bottom of the stairs in the foyer, the doorbell rings alerting him of Wally’s arrival. Dick grins as he approaches the door and it only gets wider when he opens it to reveal his best friend standing there on the front porch.

“Wal-man! How’s it going dude!” He exclaims stepping towards the speedster.

Wally’s gaze snaps to him and an identical grin appears on his face. “Dick, it’s so good to see you man!”

They come together and embrace tightly with a few firm pats on the back. They part after a few beats and then take a moment to observe one another. Dick is pleased to find Wally appearing the same as he did when he last saw him, looking happy and healthy.

“So…” Wally trails off when the silence gets drawn out for too long.

“So.” Dick repeats promptly. Getting himself together, he continues to grin and throws an arm around his friend’s shoulders, using that leverage he guides Wally into the house. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

Wally’s own arm wraps around Dick’s back as they pass through the foyer. “That we do. I can’t even remember when the last time I saw you was.”

With his free hand Dick waves the comment away. “Doesn’t matter, we’re here now. Shall we grab some food and go to my room? I would suggest the media room but the girls are currently inhabiting it, have been all day, alternatively we could go to the conservatory or even outside since it’s dry and warm.”

Wally hums for a moment before answering. “Food is a definite must, you know me – hey has Alfred cooked recently, any chance we could steal some leftovers? And your room sounds fine, at least there’ll be less chance of us being disturbed by one of your millions of siblings.”

Dick rolls his eyes at the comment though he carries on smiling, some days it really does feel like he has a million. Will Bruce ever learn the meaning of ‘no more’?

“I have no idea what Alfred has in the kitchen so we shall see when we get there.” Dick says smiling.

The two of them fall into an easy stream of chatter as they begin catching up with what’s going on in their lives.

As they chat Dick thinks to himself, why was he so bothered that his family members all have their own Kryptonian when he has his own speedster? A couple of them also have a speedster but not everyone so Dick can hold onto this, at least that’s what he’s rationalising to himself. Thinking back on it, Dick realises that it’s stupid, why should he be concerned about it at all? He's now with his best friend, that’s what matters and that’s exactly what he's going to focus on.

[exovapor]

The Adventure - TMNT Bitches:  chapter 10

CHAPTER 10:  Through the Looking Glass  

·         The four brothers exit the parking deck and are immediately overwhelmed by the steady stream of people walking to and fro.  Donnie has his eyes glued to his virtual display while Leo and Mikey each take up flanking positions on either side of him to guard his shoulders so he doesn’t trip over the crowds walking past.

·         “Oh no-no-no, this is not good!”, Donnie exclaims while panning left and right with his display, trying to find the trail that is quickly disappearing right before his eyes.

·         “What is it, Donnie?”, Leo asks, the concern thick in his voice.

·         Donnie frantically pans in a wider arch, but the trail is fading too quickly.  The flow of the foot traffic is causing too much interference and the particle stream is all but faded away, “Leo, I think we have a problem here.  The portal residue isn’t as clear down here on the street as I had hoped.  I’ve lost the trail”.

·         “Great! Now what?”, Raph’s towering figure grumbles from behind them all, where he has taken of the posterior position to keep people from walking dead-straight into Donnie as he stands stationary in the middle of a river of people.

·         “Give me a minute to think, Raph”, Leo chides but he’s feeling his own sense of panic rising. He’s never been claustrophobic, after all he lives under ground, but here with all these bodies pressing in around them, jostling past them, the serum keeping them in human form already on its count-down clock, and their one clue to follow Shredder is literally disappearing before their eyes, he’s never felt so out of his element…so not ready to lead.  However, he doesn’t have the option to quit, to flake out, his brothers are looking to him for guidance.

·         Leo studies their surroundings, the people, the activity….and then he sees it, the thing that gives him a new idea, a new possible solution to their dilemma.  He’s watching people all over pulling out their cell phones to take pictures of each other’s costumes, to stream and vlog about their adventures as they walk down the street, “Donnie, can you search through the media flowing around this event?  Maybe we’ll get lucky can catch a glimpse of Shredder in the background of someone’s post.”.

·         “Can I? Psssshhh.  Does Mikey like pizza?”, Donnie throws Leo a sassy glance before flipping through his virtual screens again.  Almost as soon as he starts flipping and searching the data streams, a ping comes from his computer, then another, and another, “Oh boy, BINGO!”, Donnie exclaims.

·         Mikey leans in close from Donnie’s right shoulder, omitting the concept of personal space, and nearly blocking Donnie’s field of vision of the display, “Dude…that’s Shredder!”.

·         “I KNOW, Mikey”, Donnie says and grabs Mikey’s cute little human face with his large left hand and pushes him back a few inches in order to have some breathing room, “it’s a video that’s quickly going viral of an altercation between Shedder some human kid”.

·         “What’s he saying?”, Leo asks, leaning in from the left.

·         “Hm…not good…he’s looking for fighters but at least we know where he’s going, according to my search this ‘Marriott’ that the guy mentions is a hotel just down the street…the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.”

·         “Then let’s get movin’, Don, lead da way.”, Raph shoves Donnie from behind, where he’s still acting as a barricade between his lithe brother and the crushing public. He’s eager to get moving, standing still when Shredder is out there hunting for a new army is grating on his nerves.

·         The quartet of disguised mutants walk along in the crowd, still in more shock and awe of being able to walk so freely among the general masses.  The laughter, the smiles, the excitement, and comradery are palpable in the air.  Everyone is high spirts and the four brothers are right in the middle of it.  This is truly a new and welcomed experience for them.

·         For too long they have watched from the shadows as people had fun.  They would watch club goers and weekend warriors living it up on Friday and Saturday nights in New York while they stood on roof tops patrolling and keeping watch…from a distance.  They often wondered, and in some of their cases daydreamed, about being part of the crowd below.  And, now, here they were, walking in soft human skins with the rest of the world.  Would they ever be able to go back to the shadows and not feel empty inside?

·         As they each ponder the experience quietly and the implications of these experiences on their future selves, they follow the flow of the crowd as it passes under the carport awning of the Marriott Marquis.  The voices and sounds of laughter echoing and bouncing back under the marquee, adding to the energy of the atmosphere.

·         They enter the establishment through the double sliding doors and are immediately stuck speechless by the activity and the setting.  The hotel was architecturally beautiful, it’s 47 stories visible in the main atrium with a cluster of stylish elevators quickly running crowds of people up and down the inside column of the atrium.  Hundreds, no, thousands of people, most of which that were in some form of costume milled about talking, taking pictures, and celebrating as one.

·         Donnie was sure that he had died and gone to nerd heaven…nerd nirvana…nerd-vana.  A small tear rests at the edge of one of his eyes.  Mikey’s hyperactive mind starts to short circuit as his eyes jump around the celebratory scene in front of him…’now THIS is a PARTY’, he thinks to himself.  Raph bringing up the rear, is stunned into silence himself. There are women…EVERYWHERE…WITH VERY LITTLE ON…AND WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE!  

·         Leo quickly assesses the scene and the effect that it is having on his brothers’ attention span, he’s got to set down the rules quickly and keep them focused on the task of finding Shredder.  “Ok, guys, let’s split up and find Shredder quickly as possible.  There are a lot of people here, so he’ll have plenty to blend in with, or use as victims against us, we NEED to find him quickly.  Raph, you’re with me, we’ll down those escalators and search there. Don you and Mike take that upper level.  If you see Shredder call for backup, don’t engage until we can be sure that we can keep the area clear and ensure that people won’t get hurt.”.

·         Leo and Raph descend to the lower level via the escalator.  The level is one large arching circle with various wings and ballrooms off its center.  There is a back entrance where other vehicles are making pit stops, picking up and dropping off of party-goers.  Leo doesn’t like this scenario, it’s going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. “We need to move through these wings to make sure he hasn’t made it to some of the maintenance areas.

·         Raph doesn’t hear Leo’s directions as he is fully distracted by a group of women cosplaying as a Sailor Moon group standing around the lower level posing for pictures. He grins devilishly at them as they wave teasingly at him.  Leo lets out an alpha snort, which doesn’t have much impact coming from his smaller human lungs, and he punches the oversexed behemoth in the arm, “Raph, focus!”.  

·         “I am focusing, Fearless, I’m focusing on dat real hard”, he replies slyly while his eyes haven’t left the group of short-skirted women.

·         Leo shakes his head, “I knew I should have brought Donnie with me, but I couldn’t trust you and Mikey together.”.

·         Raph’s eyes finally leave the group of cosplayers to stare pointedly at Leo, “I don’t need ya ta babysit me, LEO.  I’ll find Shredda and kick his ass all da way back ta New York”, he snarls aggressively.

·         “Fine, prove it, let’s move”, Leo challenges and starts leading the way down through the bowels of the hotel.

·         As Donnie and Mikey crested the escalator, their eyes saw even more of the festivities taking place on the main level.  People crowded around the bar and the dance platform, one story up overlooking the main level lobby, was packed to the brim with people grinding and gyrating to the beats from the house DJ.

·         “Don, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven”, Mikey whispers out reverently.

·         “We need to find Shredder, Mikey, we don’t have time to play around”, Donnie says, even though his own eyes are wandering the crowds appreciating the costume designs, period replicas people are carrying, and the….uhm….nice outfits of the ladies. Donnie subtly adjusts the crotch of his cargo pants.  He may be slightly smaller in human form, but proportionally still quite sizable and too many ‘happy thoughts’ still cause an uncomfortable tightness down below.

·         “Ok, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we need to split up to cover more ground. There is just too many going on and Shredder will be able to hide among it.  Mikey, PLEASE, don’t get lost and stay focused.”, Donnie negotiates with his younger brother.

·         “Don, you can count on me, bro!  Detective Mikey is on the case!”, he clasps Donnie on the shoulder before starting to walk off to circle the atrium from the left.

·         “We’ll meet back up by the bar”, Donnie yells at him over the crowd before he moves off to the right, searching the crowds for a villain but appreciating the other visual interests as well.

@turtle-babe83 @tmntspidergirl @kokokatsworld @nittleboo @the-second-circle-of-shell

[munsonboy]

~Her Protector~

Hey! I decided to write a little bit of a background story for the recent one I posted, “Outside These Walls”!

I mentioned how Loki had tried to introduce Y/n to Thor, and that it didn’t go too well, so I wanted to write about how that would have went down! Enjoy friends!❤️���

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“N-No! L-Loki!”, you cried as you scrambled around in Loki’s cupped hand. You couldn’t believe what was happening right now. Loki’s brother, Thor, had decided to barge into Loki’s room unexpectedly. You were not prepared whatsoever and neither was Loki. He didn’t have any time to hide you and Thor ended up spotting you resting on Loki’s chest the moment he walked into the room.

You were having the best afternoon with Loki and now it was ruined! He was reading to you and he had planned to show you what movies were for the first time. You expected to be under the gaze of the television screen, not the gaze of Loki’s older brother.

You knew a little bit about who Thor was. Loki had told some hilarious stories about the times he had pranked his brother back on Asgard. Thor seemed really nice, but you were in no mood to meet and befriend another giant——one who just so happens to be a literal god. Sure, you were already sitting in the hands of the God of Mischief himself, but you know him now.

You didn’t even want to think about how you would act if both Loki and Thor had stumbled upon you. Your best bet is that you would pass out.

“My little dove, there is no need to be frightened”, said Loki calmly. He wanted his brother to meet you eventually, but he didn’t want it to be so soon. Loki himself had only just met you last week! And it took Loki a while to get you to calm down since the moment you both made eye contact. About two days ago, you finally started talking to Loki without stuttering. Even that was hard for you to do. There was no way that you would be able to become friends with Thor in a few minutes if it took Loki a week to do so.

“L-Loki st-stop! Please! I-I can’t d-do this!”, you exclaimed as you crawled over to Loki’s thumb and wrapped your arms around the large digit. Loki’s eyes widened when he felt how hard you were holding onto his finger.

“My dear, it’s alright. Thor isn’t going to hurt you”, said Loki. He sighed when you didn’t respond to him. Loki was doing his best to sooth the small teen’s fear, but his mind was drawing a blank. He couldn’t concentrate when his closest friend was practically having a panic attack.

“Loki, I have an idea. What if you handed her off to me so that I was holding her? Maybe then she would realize that I mean no harm”, said Thor cheerfully.

“Perhaps that will work. But if it doesn’t, then it’s best that you leave and we try this again some other time.” Loki was hesitant at first, but trusted Thor’s idea. Loki started to get a gut feeling that his brother’s plan wouldn’t work, and boy was he right.

The second Loki started to move his hand over towards Thor’s open one, your head shot up. You caught sight of Thor’s massive platform of a hand hovering mere inches away from you and began whimpering. You let go of Loki’s finger and practically closed in on yourself.

Loki stopped his movements, his heart jumped up to his throat, and his breath hitched.

It seemed as though all of the progress that Loki had made with you had vanished. The tiny borrower that was scared half to death of Loki last week had come back and replaced the tiny girl that Loki grew very attached to. You were uncontrollably shaking, tears covered your little cheeks, and you were hugging yourself as you kept your head between your legs.

Loki looked up at Thor——his face showed nothing but maliciousness. “I should have never agreed to do that..”, said Loki. His voice was low—lower than usual. That was never a good sign, especially coming from the trickster. Thor went to put his hand on Loki’s shoulder, but Loki took a few steps back.

Suddenly, the hand that was holding you started to move again. You sobbed out loud and thought that Loki was going to hand you over to Thor. You did not want to he passed around like some toy.

But then, Loki’s voice rumbled throughout your body. “Sh, sh, sh, my little dove. No need to fret. I’m here”, said Loki. He gently ruffled your hair, which helped you relax your tense muscles, but the giant finger soon retreated, causing you to finally sit up and look at your surroundings. You were right next to a wall of leather——Loki’s chest.

Your hands shot out. You did your best to grab onto the blue leather of Loki’s suit. Even thought you couldn’t get a good grip on it, you didn’t care. You shoved your faced into his chest so that you didn’t have to look at Thor standing a few feet away from Loki.

“Get. Out”, Loki said in a deep and raspy voice. He conjured up a dagger in his right hand and held it up to Thor as he slowly started to walk back over to him. He couldn’t stand to see his small friend drenched in tears. No one was allowed to put his little dove into such a state. Not even his own brother.

Thor just stood there. He was incredibly sad that he had caused such a tiny being an immense amount of stress. Loki knew Thor didn’t mean to scare you, but that terrified expression on your face-...it sent him overboard.

“I said get out!”, Loki threw the dagger at Thor, but made sure to not actually hit him with it. It flew past Thor and stuck into the wall behind him.

Thor’s eyes widened. “Brother, you know I didn’t mean to-..”, Thor was interrupted halfway in his sentence.

Loki sighed, knowing that throwing a dagger at Thor was unnecessary. “My apologies. I just-...I need her to know that she’s safe”, said Loki.

“But Loki-..”

“Thor. Please, leave us be. I will come talk to you later tonight once she goes to bed”, said Loki as calm as he possibly could.

Thor bowed his head and turned towards the door, leaving you and Loki alone at last. Loki’s attention was now solely on you.

He lifted you up to his eye level so he could see you properly. Once again, the movement pushed you into believing that you would be handed over to another giant. You began to cry out loud.

“Shhhh, my little dove. I’ve got you my dear. And I am not going anywhere, I promise”, Loki said as he gently started to rub small circles on your back.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in and finally relaxed. You smiled weakly.

“I am so sorry, Y/n. I should have told Thor to leave as soon as he stepped foot into the room. I did not mean to cause you so much terror in one day”, said Loki.

“I-It’s okay”, you said shyly.

Loki smiled ear to ear, happy that you had forgiven him so easily. From this day forward, Loki was going to make sure that his doors were locked. He wouldn’t be able to handle seeing tears streaming down your cheeks again.

“Just remember that I am your protector, Y/n. You will never have to go through that again”, said Loki as he brought you closer to his face and nudged you with his nose.

You looked up to see Loki looking down at you and his eyes were starting to go cross. You giggled and grabbed onto his nose, hugging it. The both of you started laughing.

“Would my little princess like to watch those movies now? I bet that’ll cheer you up”, said Loki as he continued smiling.

“Okay!”, you said. You were bouncing up and down in his hand. Loki chuckled, shaking his head back and forth. “Your wish is my command, small one”, he said.

You sat down criss cross apple sauce, enjoying the way you swayed to and fro as Loki walked over to his bed.

Maybe this afternoon wasn’t ruined after all....

[sarah-writes-marvel]

Family Matters: Bucky x fem!Reader

S.S: Hello again! Another fic for you folks! This one was really based off myself and my persepectives for my future but I hope that you all like it.

Warnings: Slight panic attack, not much, mentions of children (is that a warning?) showering together but nothing sexual

Word Count: 1,636

MASTERLIST

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“Uncle Bucky!” Morgan’s sweet voice entered the room before she was in sight. The sound of her feet running against the linoleum of the compound echoed just as loudly.

I smiled at Bucky as he stood up to greet the little girl running towards him from the hallway, bracing himself for her hug.

“Hey there MiniMo. How's it going?” He asked as he knelt to her height watching her smile grow on her face as she bounced on her toes.

“Can we go to the park? Daddy said it was alright while he worked.” Morgan begged.

“You just got here Maguna. Take a chill pill.” Tony said as he finally showed up in the common room.

“But dad, it's so pretty outside!” She whined turning towards Tony.

“And it'll be just fine a little later too. You need breakfast first missy.” He smirked as he readjusted his sling. “Say Hi to Aunt Y/n/n too. She’s looking a little dejected.” 

I smiled as Morgan enthusiastically waved at me with her toothy grin before turning back to Bucky.

Despite their differences, Tony and Bucky had created a peaceful relationship. Tony still had some precautions but after speculation he realized where he had been mistaken and had finally accepted Bucky’s profuse apologizes about Hydras doing. Though Tony was very protective over Morgan, especially after his snap, Morgan had been the one to really connect the two parties. She broke Bucky out of his shell even more, probably even helped him more than I had through Steves leaving. 

Bucky was amazing with Morgan. He treated her as if she was his younger sister like in the 40’s with Becca. He had told me once that Morgan’s smile reminded him of her. Other than Tony he had become the most protective of the girl. It was adorable. He always offered to babysit if Tony and Pepper had business or just needed a night off and if there wasn't a mission that had to be done.

Tony pulled Morgan along to the kitchen and Bucky had rejoined me on the couch, watching me complete the sudoku puzzle I was working on. I could feel the nervous energy coming from him as if he wanted to say something.

“What’s on your mind Buck?” I asked, not looking away from my puzzle.

“Huh, oh. Just thinking that's all.”

“Want to indulge me? I can feel your anxiety radiating from you.” I teased him, turning to see his sweet face.

“Do you want kids?” he asked bluntly. My heart dropped to my stomach and the smile that was on my face had faded as soon as the words left his mouth. “I mean like after we get married or something. I know we've only been dating for like a year or so, but we've never talked about this.” he said his hands fiddling in his lap as he watched my reaction.

“I- uh. I- well ummm I-”

“Uncle Bucky! Lets go to the park! Please!! Daddy said it was alright now!” Morgan interrupted my flustered stuttering.

“Ok MiniMo. I'll be right there. Go put on your jacket.” He smiled as she skipped away back to the door. “I didn't mean to upset you. We can talk about it later. I’ll see you in a bit.” he said before kissing my head and following Morgan out the door.

I watched his retreating form with tears glazing my eyes. My vision shifted from the hallway to see Tony standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his arm crossed over his chest and a sympathetic look on his features.

“Need to talk about something? I don't have to be in the lab yet.” He offered, moving towards me.

“I- I- He’s gonna hate me.” I whispered.

“Why’s that?” he sat down next to me, his good arm slug around the back of the couch.

“He asked if I wanted kids, probably because he wants them but I don't. I can't. He’s gonna hate me.” I turned to Tony.

“Did he explicitly say that he wanted kids? That he wanted to start a family with you.”

“No but -”

“EH- stop. If he didnt straight up say he wanted kids then don't be so worried. He’s asking what you want in the future.” he said.

“But what if he wants a family. I can't give him that Tony. I can't give him what he had, what he might want.” 

“And if he truly loves you it won't be a problem. He might want a family but there are other ways to have kids.”

“No Tony, you don't understand. I don't want to have children at all. I can't deal with the stress of raising someone. I don't want to have a child just to mess them up because I’m not mother material.”

“Pepper thought that for a while. She doubted her ability but now look, we've got this amazing daughter.”

“You're not listening to me. I'm not mother material. I'm a mercenary. Pepper is an executive Business woman. She knows what it's like to have a family, how a child should be raised. I have no idea what that's like. I didn't have that luxury, I wouldn't know where to start. She doubted herself for a moment in life, I on the other hand have known forever that I will never be good enough to be a mother, whether it was my own child or adopted. I'm not made for that life.” I argued, the pain settling in my chest.

“Come on Y/n/n, you can't seriously believe that.” Tony said.

“I 100% do. I was raised as a killer, not a lover. I don't nurture things. I manage to kill everything I touch in time.” I stated, “I'm gonna go shower. Good luck with your projects.” I said before walking out of the room.

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I closed the bedroom door behind me and tossed my sudoku book onto the unmade bed. I looked at the clock on the wall watching the hands move. I began pacing along the carpet lost in my thoughts. Bucky's face ingrained in my memory, the way his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, the lines creased on his forehead, the way his eyes flitted to mine after he asked the question of curiosity swimming within and a hopeful gleam.

Of course he would want a family. He grew up with a sister and a loving mother. And Steve was practically his brother. Why wouldn't he want a daughter or a son of his own. He loves Morgan and he loves spending time with her so of course he's pictured himself with his own children one day.

I ran a hand over my face trying to wipe away the worry. I pulled my shirt over my head dropping it onto the floor with my sweatpants before walking into the bathroom. I turned the water to the hottest setting possible watching the room fill with steam almost immediately.

The water cascaded around me, trailing off my fingertips and dripping from my hair. The cool tile of the floor underneath my huddled form wasn't noticeable with the steaming water hitting my back. My arms were wrapped around my legs as I sat on the floor of the shower, my head leaning against the wall reimagining the look that Bucky had given me. It had morphed to a pained look, one of disgust, of hatred. 

“Hey Y/n? Everything alright? Tony said you needed to talk to me.” Bucky's voice broke me from my trance. I heard the bathroom door open and close behind him. He knocked against the tinted glass door to the shower. “Can I join you?”

“If you want to.” I said quietly, pulling myself off the floor as he got undressed and stepped in. His hands wrapped around my waist.

“What's going on doll?” HIs deep voice whispered as he left kisses on my shoulder.

“Maybe we should break up.” I said quietly. His grip loosened a little and his kisses stopped.

“What are you talking about?”

“I just don't want to hold you back from something you want.” I said.

“Is this about what  I asked earlier? Because I didn't mean that we had to have kids now. I know that our lives are still kinda hectic. We can wait. I don't mind.” he said, his hands turning me to face him.

“I can't have kids. Even if I could I don’t want kids. And you obviously want a family. I can't give you that. I can't give you what you had growing up. I can't give you a loving family like you want.” tears were freely streaming down my cheeks.

“We don't need kids to have a loving family. I have you. That's enough for me.” he reassured, his hands cupping my face.

“But you want kids. I see how you act with Morgan. You adore her.” I said.

“I do adore her, but that doesnt mean I want kids. I adore you much more than risking losing you over wanting children. I'm fine without kids. We can have a dog instead.”

“But- I-”

“Stop. Listen to me closely; I don't need children to have a family with you. It can just be me and you. I don’t care just as long as I’m sharing my future with you.” he said gently but stern. “Now come on, let’s get out and go play with Morgan, ok?”

I simply nodded and followed his lead out of the shower. He took my towel and dried me off gently, finishing by placing a kiss on my lips.

“I love you, you know that.” he smiled tilting my chin up to meet his gaze.

“I love you too. I'm sorry.”

“There's nothing to apologize for, doll. Nothing at all.” he said with another smile before crushing me in a hug.

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S.S: Hope you like this! I saw a tiktok with Sebastian being amazing with kids and it was adorable but like at the same time I lowkey despise kids because they come from a special place in hell so this story came out. Anyways.... thanks fro reading!!

[honeypirate]

my sun and stars

Izuku Midoirya x Reader 

In my head theyre in their last year of school and end up fighting a bad villian, deku saves reader and ends up getting hurt, leading to a kind of confession.  

flufffyyyyy best friends to more

Heavily unedited so I apologize for the mistakes I know are there somewhere.

The girls of class 1A, Aoyama, and you, sat cross legged on the floor of Deku’s room. A book on the floor between you all that explains the chemical makeup of what you needed “thank you so much for this Yao-Momo. It really is a help since it’s so late and I don’t know where to even get these.” she smiles “no problem, this is an amazing idea” the little plastic pieces start to fall from her skin, onto the floor around her. You squeal in excitement and start to pick up the pieces, grabbing the sticky tack that she made first, and begin hanging the plastic pieces all over the room. You didn’t finish until early in the morning, around 3am. You were happy even though you knew you had to get up early to go to the hospital

Your neck ached but you didn’t care, you kept your hand in his and your forehead against your hand as you rested in the hospital. Your best friend, Izuku Midoriya, has been in a coma for the past few days, you made a huge fuss and now they let you stay with him however long you wanted if you just went home at night to shower and sleep. School has been out for the past few days because of rebuilding from the attack, Midoriya only got hurt because he was protecting you and you felt guilty because of it. You wanted to be with him as long as possible until he woke up, and the teachers knew that, Aizawa was there as long as you were but he gave you space, sitting outside of the door. He walked you back to school at the end of the night, and was there in the morning when you left the dorm, the travel to and fro was always silent but you were grateful for the company. 

“y/n, what are you doing here?” your head snaps up from the bed “you’re awake!” you say and smile, but your smile falls away when you see the disgusted look on his face and the way he whips his hand away from yours “oh..” you whisper, your heart beginning to race. “What are YOU doing here?” he asks again, his eyes turning dark, “I uhh, i wanted to be here when you woke up, i was worried..” you withdraw into the chair you were sitting in, feeling smaller than a pinhead, “don't tell me you’re IN LOVE with me?! Don't make me laugh” and he does, long and loud, hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. You feel tears burn your eyes and quickly scoot your chair back, popping to your feet and trying to run out the door, but the door won't open when you push it. You try to force it open and it doesn’t budge, your hand freezes when his laughter stops and he speaks again “i never should have hurt myself for you. You’re not worth it. It should be you in this hospital bed” you gasp and tears start to flow down your cheeks, the door immediately flies open and all of your friends are outside the door, laughing and shoving their way inside while chanting “it should have been you” you take a step back and trip, falling on your butt and choking on a sob. You scoot farther back until youre up against the wall, your friends walking slowing towards you and Midoriya standing from his hospital bed, walking over to you with a smirk before crouching down in front of you“D..deku. Why?”  you sob as you look into his dark green eyes you loved, he chuckles “because I could never love a person like you” 

You woke up with a gasp in a cold sweat, panting and your heart racing, the dream you were just in still fresh in your mind. You throw your covers off and go to open the window in your room, the cool night air cooling off your body as you took deep breaths to calm yourself down. “That was so rude of you, brain” you whisper to nobody and then get back in bed, reaching over and checking your phone, 4:04am. Your alarm would go off in three hours but you doubt that you would get any more sleep tonight. 

The walk to the hospital was the same as all the others, only thing heard was your footsteps on the pavement, when you get to his hospital room you stop, hand on the door, and frown. “Is something wrong?” Mr. Aizawa asks and you shake your head. “Just a bad dream.” you whisper and then turn your face towards him “thank you for always walking with me. I really appreciate it” he nods and you finally enter the room. 

You tell his unconscious form about your dream, “and yeah” you yawn “i didn't sleep after that.” you pull your chair across the room to be by the bed, sitting down and pulling a blanket out from your bag and a book you had to read for your class, pulling your knees up and settling in. “i really hope you wake up soon, Deku. I miss you.” 

A chorus of beeping is what woke him up, his eyes slowly fluttering open, the groan in his throat dying before it can come out when he catches sight of your unconscious form sleeping curled up in the chair next to his bed, your peaceful sleeping face giving him butterflies. “She’s here every day, all day, leaving only to go home and sleep before coming back in the morning” his eyes moved over to the doorway where the voice was “mr Aizawa!” he says in a whisper. Aizawa comes in quietly, looking at you and your book that fell to the ground, “you should have seen the fuss that they made on the first day when we tried to send them home. They really care about you” he covers his mouth as he yawns and then shoves his hands in his pocket. Izuku’s eyes go back over to you as he sits up quietly, stifling the groan of his soar muscles, he doesn’t know what to say, the fact that you care so much about him makes his heart sore, he's been in love with you for so long but felt convinced you saw him as only a friend. This makes him hope you see him as more.

A hand on your shoulder makes you up, you open your eyes and see the dark green eyes from your dream. You gasp, your eyes widening and your heart beat spiking as you sit up straight in the chair, trying to back away from him but the back of the chair stopping you. “Hey hey it’s just me it’s okay” his eyes, you realized, weren’t dark at all. But filled with sweetness and a kindness that you were so familiar with. The beautiful green eyes you loved, nothing like the ones from your dream. You relax and then laugh awkwardly “sorry. Bad dreams recently” you shove the blanket off your lap as excitement finally makes its way throughout your body. You throw your arms around the boy's neck and hug him gently but quickly. “Are you okay? Why are you out of bed?!” one of his arms, the one without the IV, wraps around your back “i’m okay. I wanted to wake you, I’m sorry i couldn’t wait any longer” you pull back and smile as you look into his eyes, your hands staying on his neck “how long have you been up? You should have woken me at the exact moment. Izuku I missed you so much you have no idea how worried i’ve been” you from and he chuckles, reaching up to push your frown into a smile “you looked so peaceful and lovely i couldn't bring myself to. Mr. Aizawa has told me a little about how worried you’ve been.” you help him stand and help him back to his bed, your face flushed knowing that Aizawa talked about you. 

 “Has the doctor come in?” he nods “she told me everything and answered all my questions, and the nurses too. They all love you, you know. Raved about how sweet you were and how moved they are that you’ve been so dedicated to me. Half of them think we’re dating” you laugh uncomfortably, turning away to pull the chair closer before you sat down again “is that so?” you say.

“What was your bad dream about? Will you tell me?” his voice was soft and you sighed, your eyes moving up from the stain on the chair to meet his green eyes again, “it wasn’t nice and it is really dumb, are you sure you want to hear it?” he nods and you nod as well, looking down at your hands in your lap, turning them to look at your palms as you relay the dream to him, leaving out the part where he told you he could never love you, though, didn't want to confess just yet. “Please look at me” his voice was quiet, you looked slowly up into his eyes, he’s smiling softly and his eyes are gentle “it isn’t dumb. and I want to protect you. I hate seeing you get hurt. I would never ever think like that. Okay?” you nod and smile, a load felt like it was taken from your shoulders, you didn’t even feel like it bothered you this much. “Thank you, Izuku” you clear your throat and begin to fold your blanket in your lap “do you know when you can go home?” he sighs “not till tomorrow morning, have to keep me overnight for observations” you smile and take his hand on the bed “i am so glad you’re awake and okay” his heart is racing as hard ad yours was and his cheeks begin to flush so he looks away from you and changes the topic. 

You spent the rest of the day with him, catching up on what he missed and playing some card games. You were so relieved he was okay and coming home. The rest of the class showed up as well his Mom (who stayed the rest of the day with you both) and the class brought so many watermelons you didn't know what to do with half of them. You ended up giving them to some of the hospital staff. 

The next morning you met Izuku at the hospital to go home with him, smiling and bouncing on your toes, excited to show him what you did in his room. When you get there you ask him to close his eyes as you enter, he laughs but still follows your orders when your hand goes up to cover his eyes. 

“I hope you like it Izuku” you whisper before you drop your hand, you left the light on all night and brought in your blackout curtains to make sure the whole room was pitch black. When he opened his eyes he was greeted with the most beautiful display of glow in the dark stars and planets, exact constellations spread out around his ceiling and walls, all of the ones you guys found together one night after a big fight with a villain when you both couldn’t sleep and you snuck out to the roof.

 His hand finds yours in the dark and he laces your fingers together “y/n I…” you swallow hard, your stomach filled with knots of excitement and butterflies “do you like it?” you whisper and he chuckles “I love it. It’s so amazing” you feel relieved “i’m so glad” he pulls you into his arms into a hug that feels like it reached your very core. 

Something about the darkness made you feel bolder, maybe because you couldn’t see his face, you grab fistfuls of his shirt across his back, burying your face into his neck whispering “you are my sun and stars, Izuku” his heart stopped and he froze, did you really say that or is this a dream? It takes him a good second to restart his heart and pull you tighter against his chest. “And you are mine” he says and pulls back, reaching up to cup your cheek in the dark, his thumb tracing your bottom lip before he leans down, pressing his lips gently to yours.

[theficplug]

l Next Lifetime l Erik Killmonger l

previous chapters: l part 1 l

erik kilmonger x reader

warnings: none, but the usual 18+ for the eventual smut and a possible tw for grief but i promise it gets better and its a romcomsynopsis: reader grieves Erik until she doesn’t (i’m trying not give too much away). I really want to make it a series that i actually keep up with (sorry Girls Trip readers) because I have up to part 4 written. alright thats all i hope yall vibe with it. 

l part 2 l

“Yeah I do, I think that like if we want. We can come back as someone else or like maybe when we love someone really strongly and we have like soul ties we can come back to them in another life. But that’s just me. We could just be hitting the cha cha slide next to Father J.C.” Iridia explains and Tika shakes her head while laughing at her. 

“Personally, I don’t think so. I believe once our life Earthside is done we return to the cosmos to be a part of the stars that light up the night sky on our loved ones darkest nights. But why are we talking about this on your birthday? We are very much alive with much to celebrate miss thang. I’m ready to go!” Tika says to you as she grabs the car keys. 

“So I met someone while I was at the store and he invited all of us to a party at the Roller Rink but I gotta let you know it’s like crazy how eerily similar he looks to Erik.” you say to them and they both give each other a look before looking back at you.

“OH! Don’t give me that look! I know y’all probably think I’m losing it, but you know what they say everybody got a doppelganger somewhere. Anyways, I know it’s not exactly on our itinerary but I wanna go if y’all are down?” you ask them and they give a worried look before nodding and agreeing. 

“Hell yeah we’re in. I haven’t been to a skating rink since like 10th, maybe 11th grade? This should be fun to see if I got it or if I’m gonna buss my ass.” Tika says laughing.

The rest of the day was pretty easy breezy but you could not get over seeing him. Who’s possibly not him? In front of you. Happy and laughing and present. 

You tried to shake off the thoughts and feelings during brunch with your girls and for the rest of the day enjoying the street festival and winning a giant stuffed giraffe. Between the 3 of you, you won enough stuffed animals to fill the entire backseat of your car and eventually left the festival with a caricature drawing of the 3 of you.

Before you knew it, it was 6:40 and you and your girls were back at the beach house getting ready for the party. 

You searched around your suitcase for the outfits that Iridia had packed for you and settled on. 

You gave yourself a once over in the mirror and fluffed your fro a little before re-applying your lip gloss. 

“GIRL, YOU LOOK SO GOOD. What is going on?  You tryna get chose?” Tika asks standing in the doorway as she smiles at you with her ipod in one hand and a freeze-able daiquiri pouch in the other. 

You laugh as Tika glides around the room shaking her hips to the beat and doing a little roll as she saunters over to you to help you clasp your shirt in the back.

It’s safe to say that you haven’t been exactly up to your fashionably self for the past few months but Iri giving you options with the different pieces of clothing  that she bought you had you feeling like yourself again.

“Damn, I’m good.” Iri says while giving you a twirl and takes selfies with you and Tika.

You purse your lips and give your best smize towards her phone as she snaps a photo of you and for a moment things feel like they used to. 

“Just wanted to feel cute for once. I love this top and girl it got my titties SIT-TING.” you reply giggling and childishly nudging your girls before asking if they’re ready to go. 

You put the address into the gps and you were off on your way.You tried turning up the radio to drown out how loud your thoughts were going and in a million different directions.

 About 20 minutes later. You look out the window once arriving at the skating rink to see cars already filling the entire parking lot and you could see people laughing while holding onto each other as they skated their way inside. 

The music is already blaring and you could definitely tell that “Daka”’s friend is a party planner. The venue had some sort of projector or something set up so that the entire room seemed like it changed “worlds” with each song. There were multiple food stations, and a live DJ playing everything from 90s R&B to New Orleans bounce music and everything in between.

You and your girls quickly grabbed a pair of skates and looked around for N’Jadaka and sure enough within a few minutes he was grooving his way over to you this time dressed in a slightly opened printed shirt and light washed jeans. 

He skated around you with a big ass smile on his face. His golds were gleaming under the lights as it bounced off of the diamonds engrained in it. “YOU MADE IT! How y’all doing?” he asks your girls and they stand there gasping with their mouths wide open. 

“I mean he could be his goddamn identical twin. You were not lying! The only thing he’s missing are the scars and his dreads. God damn.” Tika was the first to speak before Iri introduced herself.

“Hey, Happy Birthday, I’m Iri. This is Tika’s rude self and you already met our boo.” Iri says pulling him in for a quick hug. 

“ I’m sorry, excuse us, you just look exactly like somebody we knew. Happy Birthday! It was his birthday too. It’s wild how people really do be having doppelgangers. Alright, so I’m gonna go try not to break my damn leg. Knowing I gotta go to work on Monday. Come on.” Tika says taking Iri by the hand and making her way onto the rink with her to give you and him some time alone. 

You shift your weight trying to keep yourself steady as you sway to music , knowing that he’s eyeing you up and down.

“Man must’ve been a hell of a person. I’m glad you came though. I didn’t think Orleans was gonna do all of this.” he says laughing and you can’t control the butterflies feelings like they were fluttering around your stomach. That’s his laugh.

“He was. To me at least, he was. Of course, I mean I haven’t been to a roller rink in forever and I really needed some time to just know what it’s like to be carefree again.” you admit and he nods along listening to your words.

He decided to save his comment on “he was” for later. Hoping that there would be a later for the two of you and opted for taking your hand in his and leading you onto the rink .

“Well, in that case. Show me what you got and forget about everything else for a minute.” he offers and you accept  his offer and shakily make your way onto the rink like bambi trying to walk for the first time. 

“Okay, so I’ll admit. I don’t actually know how to skate. I don’t why I thought this was a good idea.” you manage to stand for all of 10 seconds before tripping over onto him and he turns towards the DJ talking into the mic and signals for him to slow the music down.

“I got you.” he says and “Always Be My Baby” starts to play softly in the background as the “world” changes to a starry night. 

You look up at him for a moment and nod before leaning into him. As you rest your head on his shoulder he begins to skate you left to right gently swaying you to the beat of the song as his hand rests respectfully on the small of your back almost instinctively. It took everything in you not to start tearing up again.

This was your song . He always promised that you’d be a part of him no matter what happens in life. You were always going to be his baby. 

All the couples were paired off and you looked around at Iri holding onto Tika and smiled knowing that they’ve never acknowledged their feelings for each other but it was clear as day to anyone else. 

He swayed you and held you against him while his thumb stroked your back gently and you closed your eyes trying to soak up your time with him. 

You don’t know how it happened or if this was one long drawn out delusion or what exactly was going on in the moment, but all you knew was that you were able to feel the warmth of your E in your arms again and his scent evading all of your senses. 

In this moment he was smiling and content and at peace, not being shipped back to you with claw marks in his chest and bruises all over him. He was here with even slow breaths and enjoying himself. 

You knew that he felt it too because as the song ended you opened your eyes to find him looking down at you with this look of confusion and adulation on his face. 

You run your fingers over his cheek and clear your throat and recoil your hand back by your side. 

“I think your friends are calling for you.” you say to him playfully as the men and one woman around your age skate over to him and around the two of you, asking you a bunch of questions at once.

E- N’Jadaka let’s go of you to turn to them and introduce them to you .

“This is Orleans big head ass, Khalil , Pen, Lina, and Big Mike.” he says and they say hey and ask you if you are from around the area and you talk back and forth. 

The conversation between you and his little group was so easygoing. It didn’t feel forced or awkward as he stood beaming from you to them.

“I've been there once or twice. I really liked the Hottentot Saartjie/ Sarah Baartman piece about the dehumanization and caricaturization of black women, especially darker skin women, then and now. It was both interesting and heartbreaking. It’s the reason why I do what I do now. I create safe spaces for black girls and women of all ages. It’s my greatest accomplishment and something I’m most proud of.” you answer Mike’s question about the new black art exhibit downtown.

Mike looks at you and shakes his head in wonder and amusement.

“Daka, with all due respect bruh. I gotta ask her to marry me. Or you need to let me know what aisle that was you met her because I’mma swing by your parents' store tonight. I think we might be out of bread or something.” Big Mike says before complimenting you on your outfit and Lina joined in by asking if you’d like to check out a new record store with her on Tuesday.  

Next thing you knew your girls skated next to you to see what was going on. Tika introduced herself to the group and Iridia followed through.

“Hey I heard something about a record store because I could use some new ones. I think our neighbors are tired of me playing Otis Redding every night for the last few weeks. Keep asking me if I had a breakup every time I see her. Bless her nosey heart , Mrs. Pepper.” Iridia says talking animatedly and as gesticulatively as she always does and his small group of friends as everyone does seems completely enamored by her. 

“Of course, yeah, why don’t you come too? And Mrs. Pepper just doesn't know good music but I may be biased because Cigarettes and Coffee is my favourite song. Hold that thought. My mouth is dry as hell from all that skating around, be right back-” Lina says before skating away for refreshments and the rest of the group talks amongst each other.

Other friends of N’Jadaka come up at random times to hug him, get photos, or say happy birthday.

“You want some?” Lina asks Erik as she returns  to the group with a cupcake in her hand as she peeled the wrapper off and offered Erik a piece of the chocolate dessert. She reached out her hand towards his mouth and you looked from her to him and then at the cupcake which looked like it had walnuts in it. You push the piece away from his mouth and she looks at you puzzled. 

“What’s up with you?” he asks looking confused 

“Chocolate walnut cupcake.” you say simply not realizing that you were supposed to have just met him this morning .

“I- I mean just a lucky guess you know most people have nut allergies and shit.” you try to cover your tracks and he let out a sigh before laughing and nodding.

“You right too. Damn I was gon be out here looking like Will Smith when he ate that shellfish in Hitch for the rest of the function. I’m allergic to nuts. Good looking out ma.” he says and you nod at him before telling him to go skate with his friends you’d meet up later.

As you part ways your friends have about 3000 questions each. Iri believing that that definitely has to be Erik and Tika believing that you both had lost your natural born ass minds. 

You all settle on how wild it is that he looked like Erik and left it there. You enjoyed the rest of your night swag surfing with a room full of new friends and your old forever friends and just fully enjoying your birthday. 

“WE LIKE TO PAARTTAAYYY. AYYYYEEE AYYYYYEEE.” you sung out loud at the top of your lungs with everyone else and Beyonce. 

Somehow you end up twerking on Lina and having a good laugh as the drinks flow through your system.

You glance over at N’Jadaka being circled by some of his guests and he breaks the circle to grab your hand and lead you to the middle of it with him. 

“MY BIRTHDAY TWIN!” he shouts over the music to his guests and you shake your head telling him that he doesn’t really have to share his spotlight with you.

“Ain’t no problem.” he responds and you watch as everybody starts to skate a circle around you and Erik and y’all both laugh and pose for pictures while people sing Happy Birthday the Stevie Wonder version.

 His friends and yours all took turns to skate up to pin money on you both. 

You cheer and clap along to the music as you sing Happy Birthday to him and he sings it back to you. 

Before you know it you're both smiling at each other and getting swept up into a soft gentle kiss that feels like electricity is pulsing between the two of you.

As you close your eyes you can get a glimpse of kissing him before he left for Wakanda. The way he pressed his forehead against yours , the way your hands rested against his beating heart, and the way that his soft plumps felt against yours.

You knew that he felt it too because when you  broke the kiss with a tug of his bottom lip he was staring down at you once again with a puzzled expression.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped. I just-” you explain before exiting the circle and making your way out of the skating rink.

You quickly take off the shows and put your regular shoes back on as you stand outside for a moment to get some fresh air and gather yourself.

"Why is this happening? How is this happening? People don't just get to come back. This is insane. This is insane."

It didn’t take long at all before Erik was smoothly grooving his way out of the door not once spilling his drink.

“You know ma, I’mma lot of things. But I know for sure stupid ain’t one of them.” he says swaying his shoulders to the music before he stops and stands in front of you.

“You know something, don’t you? How do we really know each other?” he asks slowly 

“I don’t. We met in Aloha Oakland for the first time. I feel so connected to you and believe that we have chemistry because you remind me of my ex. He passed away nearly a year ago and I didnt wanna tell you that right off the bat because the shit’s weird. “Hey, sorry I passed out ,  you cute but you remind me of my dead ex. So yeah, have a good day”.” you explain and he nods deciding once again to not press the issue. 

"I'm sorry for your loss. Grief is never an easy thing to go through. I feel I experienced so much of that so early I didn't know anything else besides death. I was told that my birth parents were both murdered. But my parents taught me through all that rot and decay of the heart something beautiful can still grow. They taught me how to live. That there is more to life is more than just surviving day to day out of spite and anger." He speaks slowly like he's really pondering the words that he wants to say before continuing. 

"It's kinda my fault. I feel like I was a lil too forward with all of this. My friends and the way that they party can be overwhelming. I'd like to make it up to you if you up for it. Just me and you. Maybe like a coffee or something quieter than this. I want to get to know you. Even though I know it's gonna sound corny as hell, I can't help feeling like I already do. You passing out by them discount cakes wasn't an accident at all, I think it was fate." he says and you look up at him before nodding. 

“I think so too.”

[livesincerely]

dress you up, dress you down ch.1 - dress you up

aka the Tie Fic. Also on Ao3

00000

“So. Davey.”

Davey pauses mid-sip. He looks at Katherine, then down at the cup of coffee in his hand—it’s the expensive kind, the kind that comes with milk and sugar, the kind that Davey would never dare buy for himself—then back up at Katherine, and realizes that he’s been tricked.

He sets his cup down with a heavy sigh. “What is it?”

To her credit, Katherine doesn’t even pretend to misunderstand. “Jack needs new clothes.”

Davey’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Okay...” he says after a moment of consideration. “Why does Jack need new clothes? We got him that art smock so he’d stop getting paint on his selling shirts and I haven’t noticed any rips or tears—“

“No, not his selling clothes,” Katherine interrupts. “I want to get him a few outfits that he can wear for his shifts in the art department. He keeps coming in wearing his Newsies cap and he showed up at my father’s office on Friday with a piece of tie-line holding his pants up instead of a belt.”

“He didn’t,” Davey says, though he doesn’t find it at all hard to believe, torn between laughter and exasperation.

“He really did,” Katherine says, the corners of her eyes crinkling up in amusement. “I’m sure a lot of it is just impertinence for impertinence’s sake—understandable after all that’s happened—and god knows it’s good to have someone around that won’t jump at my father’s every beck and call, but Davey,“ Katherine leans forward, her expression turning serious, “you get why things can’t continue on this way, don’t you?”

Davey takes a long drink of his coffee to give his thoughts a chance to settle. Because the thing is, Davey absolutely understands Katherine’s concern.

Jack’s new position at The World is a fantastic opportunity, especially for someone who wasn’t born with the privileges of a full education, a comfortable home, or family connections to ease his way in life. This job might just be a weekly political cartoon, but it has the potential to one day be so much more: the start of a life-long career, where Jack can do something he loves and get paid a fair wage to do it.

Jack’s hard working and smart and so incredibly talented, but he’s also stubborn as a mule and dead set against submitting to any kind of authority, even over something as simple as an office dress code. Pulitzer and the other managers in the art department might be willing to look over Jack’s apparel for now, but not forever—the last thing Davey wants is for Jack to get passed up for promotions, raises, and projects because he can’t dress the part.

“Yeah,” Davey finally says. “I get it. It’s a good idea, Kath.”

“Great!” Katherine exclaims. “So now we just have to convince Jack to let us pick out some business casual clothes for him; I was thinking we could spend tomorrow uptown, my tailor will be able to see us right away, I’m sure, and we can get Jack’s measurements taken and have him fitted for a few—“

“Wait, hold on,” Davey says, suddenly wrong-footed. “How did I become involved in this? It’s your idea!”

“But it’ll be easier to convince him if he hears it from both of us,” Katherine says. She’s hitting him with the wide-eyed, pouty, please-Davey-do-this-favor-for-me face. Joke’s on her: if Les and Sarah hadn’t already indoctrinated him against that face years ago, the last couple of months spent as the lone voice of reason amongst the chaos that is the Lower Manhattan Newsies would’ve done the trick. “And it would be helpful to have your opinion when he starts trying things on.”

“You mean, it’ll be helpful to have me there to take the fall if Jack hates the idea,” Davey says.

“Oh, sure, like Jack’s gonna be angry with you,” Katherine says, rolling her eyes.

Davey patently ignores this comment. “I mean, you clearly have a handle on the situation,” he continues, fingers drumming against the rim of his coffee cup. “I’m sure you don’t really need me to—“

“If you come with me to pitch this to Jack, I’ll make sure he leaves with a new set of suspenders,” Katherine says.

Davey blinks, his protests thoroughly derailed. Katherine knows him too well.

“I hate you,” he says, blowing out a breath. “Fine, I’ll go. But I’m telling you now, Jack’s not gonna be happy about this.”

“All we have to do is present a united front,” Katherine states with incredible confidence. “He can’t argue if it’s both of us.”

“No. Hell no,” Jack says when they approach him the next day. The two of them have been talking for all of five minutes and Katherine and Jack both look ready to throw punches. Davey’s relatively sure it won’t come to that, though honestly, his money’s on Katherine if it does.

“Jack, would you please just—“ Katherine gets out through clenched teeth.

“I said no, Kath! How many more times do you wanna hear it? No!”

Katherine throws Davey an exasperated look—one that says ‘for the love of God, talk some sense into him.’

“Jack,” Davey starts, taking a step closer to him. “I think you should let Kathy take you shopping for some new clothes.”

Jack whirls around to face him, his eyes dark with irritation. “Dave, just ‘cause  I’m workin’ a desk gig don’t mean I need some fancy geddup to do my damn job—“

“Jack, no one’s saying you need to start showing up to The World dressed to the nines,” Davey says, “but don’t you think having a nice set of office clothes would get the other workers to treat you with more respect?”

“I shouldn’t hafta dress a certain way to get treated decent,” Jack says, and he still looks upset but he’s starting to settle down. “Havin’ money don’t make ya a better worker and being poor don’t make me an idiot.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Davey asks, running a hand soothingly along Jack’s shoulders until the tension there eases. “I’m not saying it’s fair, of course it’s not fair—but stuff like this never is. It’s about knowing the game and learning how to play it. Katherine and I just want to make sure you got a decent shot at it.”

Jack holds Davey’s gaze for a long moment, then the last of the fight drains out of him.

“Fine,” he huffs. “What exactly did the two of ya have in mind?”

00000

Katherine doesn’t give Jack the opportunity to reconsider. She drags them uptown to a little tailor’s shop with a neat, simple storefront, but whose glossy windows and brass finishes make it clear that this is a place that caters to the upper class.

The bell above the doorway chimes gently as they enter. The young woman behind the counter looks up from where she’s taking inventory and greets them with a smile; a moment later an older gentleman with a head of salt and pepper hair comes out of a back room, his arms open wide in welcome.

“Miss Katherine,” he exclaims, taking one of Kathy’s hands in his own and kissing the back of it. “How good it is to see you once more! And you have brought friends!”

“Good morning, Giovanni,” Katherine greets warmly. “This is David and this is Jack. Jack’s the latest hire in the art department—he works on political cartoons.”

“Jack… Kelly?” Giovanni asks. “Yes, I have seen your work! I very much enjoyed the cartoon with the little shoe shiner. Was very funny!”

Jack looks a little caught off guard—like he wants to dislike Giovanni on sheer principle, but is finding it difficult in the face of such an honest compliment.

“Uh... nice to meet ya,” Jack says.

“We’re looking to get Jack fitted for a few things,” Katherine explains. “Business casual, office wear. Do you have time to see us now?”

“Of course, Miss Katherine,” Giovanni says. “We will get this taken care of right away. Abigail!” The girl at the front counter scurries over. “Turn the sign on the door—we have a project and must not be disturbed!”

Giovanni has Jack stand on a small footstool towards the back of the store. He makes a slow circle around him—pulling a tape measure out of one of his apron pockets and whipping it to and fro—eyeing Jack critically and muttering rapidly to Abigail, who trails behind him dutifully taking notes.

For his part, Jack looks deeply uncomfortable with having such careful scrutiny trained on him. Davey tries to seem calm and reassuring but he’s not sure how successful he is: he’s feeling a bit out of his depth as well.

Finally, Giovanni steps back. “This is enough to start with,” he says, nodding decisively.

“What options can we look at right now?” Katherine asks, with a kind of intensity that Davey would be hard pressed to muster up over any clothing, no matter its quality. “Ideally we’d like to leave here with at least one full outfit.”

“We keep a selection of our most popular styles on hand for customers to try on before purchase,” Giovanni offers. “Would you like to begin with those? I can think of several that would flatter the young gentleman.”

Katherine smiles. “That sounds perfect.”

The two of them have a quick conversation about colors and cuts and fabrics that goes over Davey’s head, then Giovanni is bustling Jack into a changing area, his arms weighed down with bolts of cloth and a mouthful of stick pins. In the meantime, Abigail ushers Katherine and Davey over to a pair of cushioned stools set up next to a tri-fold mirror, ostensibly so they’ll have the best view from which to offer commentary and cast judgement.

Or, really, for Katherine to cast judgement. Davey suspects his main job will be mediating when the argument between ‘An Actual Heiress’ Kath and ‘the paint stains on this vest match my hat so it’s fine’ Jack inevitably breaks out.

They’ve not been waiting very long when Jack comes out of the fitting room to model the first outfit. Davey glances over when he hears the rustle of the curtain being pushed back and—

Oh.

Oh.

Jack is wearing a navy blue button down with a pair of dark gray slacks and a matching vest. The colors and cuts aren’t that much different than his usual garb, but the way everything fits makes a whole world of difference. Oh good god, does everything fit.

Davey’s eyes bounce here and there, his brain unable to decide which part of the incredible sight to focus on. There’s the strong line of Jack’s shoulders, which look even broader than usual because of how the vest tapers in at the waist. Or how the fabric of the pants drapes nicely around Jack’s thighs, perfectly highlighting the toned muscle underneath.

Jack looks back to ask Giovanni a question. Davey’s eyes trail up the backs of his legs as he turns, then up over the curve of his ass—

Davey ducks his head to hide his burning face. Oh no.

“That looks great, Giovanni,” Katherine says. “How does it feel, Jack?”

“Like it’s too damn expensive,” Jack mutters. He’s standing strangely: holding his arms out from his sides like he’s trying his hardest not to touch the clothes even as he wears them. “I’m still not convinced that all this is necessary.”

“Do not start with me, Jack Kelly,” Katherine says, one eyebrow lifted. “Now honestly, what do you think?”

“Well... it fits,” Jack says lamely. “That’s all that matters, right?”

“Jack,” Katherine starts with a huff.

“I’m serious!” Jack says defensively. “I’m not tryin’ta get on ya nerves, Kath, but I dunno what else there is to say.”

Katherine considers him for a moment, then sighs, disappointed but accepting the answer. “Davey, what do you think.”

Davey’s throat works. He still sort of feels like someone’s hit him over the head, but he manages to say, “The gray is nice. You can match it with a bunch of different colored shirts.”

“Hmm...” Katherine hums, tilting her head to the side. “Simple, versatile... sure, we can make that work.”

“Versatile?” Jack whispers to Davey.

Davey gets caught between not staring at Jack and trying not to look like he’s avoiding staring at Jack; his gaze lands somewhere around Jack’s left ear. “She means colors like black and gray and navy and brown—stuff that goes with everything.”

“Right, okay,” Jack mutters to himself. “That don’t sound too bad.”

Another quick conversation between Giovanni and Katherine, then Jack’s back in the fitting room to try on a second option. As the curtain pulls shut, Davey feels himself let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Katherine glances over at him and says, “Aren’t you glad you agreed to come with us?”

Davey’s blush had been fading, but it flairs up again with a vengeance. “You are the worst person.”

“I am the best person,” Katherine corrects. “I’m the reason you know what Jack looks like in pants that actually fit his waist—“

“Katherine,” Davey hisses, shoulders hunching in embarrassment.

“—and I saw you staring at his biceps. You’re welcome for that, by the way.”

“Katherine, oh my god—!”

Jack comes out again, this time in a black and white ensemble, and still looking far too handsome for someone who’s been safety pinned into his clothes.

“I like this, but it’s a little... plain.” Katherine says, mercifully distracted from tormenting Davey any further.

“And? What’s wrong with plain?” Jack grumbles. He moves as if to cross his arms across his chest, then seems to remember all the sharp pins sitting very close to his skin. He settles for tucking his hands in his pockets. “Plain works just fine for me.”

“It needs something to finish the look,” Kath muses, ignoring Jack completely. She looks at Giovanni and asks, “What sorts of ties do you have?”

“No. Absolutely not. Ya mighta talked me into a coupla shirts but ya ain’t gonna put me in no tie—“

“We have a fine selection, Miss Katherine,” Giovanni responds, joining Katherine in talking over Jack’s protests. “In fact, we just received a variety of silk ties in a number of colors. I will fetch the display—“

Jack’s eyes bug out a little when he hears the work silk, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly; Davey fairs only slightly better. Katherine and Giovanni don’t pay them any mind—examining the assortment of ties, weighing the pros and cons of each one, occasionally holding one up next to Jack’s face and frowning.

After a few more seconds of spluttering, Jack seems to come to terms with the fact that he’s leaving with a tie. He points at the array Giovanni has brought over and says, “What about that blue one?”

“You and your blue,” Katherine mutters, shaking her head. “How about something different for once? This silver one is nice. Or, how about this one, with the stripes—“

“If you’re gonna make me get a tie, you could at least let me pick it out,” Jack grumbles. “I like the blue one.”

“You can’t only wear blue, Jack,” Katherine says, a little testily. “You need to have different options.”

“Don’t seem so important to me,” Jack says with a shrug. “Blue’s a good color: it don’t stain too easy, it’s versatile.” His eyes dart briefly to Davey, and then away again. “And it’s my favorite.”

“Be that as it may, I still think you should choose something else—“

“Jeeze, why does it matter so much—“

“The red one,” Davey blurts out, and given that he hadn’t meant to say anything at all, it comes out much louder than he’d intended it to.

Katherine and Jack halt their bickering and they all turn to look at him. Davey regrets opening his mouth.

He swallows, then awkwardly continues, “You should try the red one. It looks nice—red is a nice color, I mean. You’d look good in it, or it’d look good on you. Either, really, I guess. And, um... yeah.”

“Uh, okay,” Jack says when Davey trails off. “Sure, let’s try the red one.”

Giovanni slips the tie around Jack’s neck and knots it for him with professional ease. Jack flips his collar back down, then tucks the ends hesitantly under his vest. He stares at himself in the mirror, twisting and turning as he checks himself over from all the different angles.

It looks nice. Better than nice, actually. Maybe even incredible. Davey tugs at the collar of his own shirt, suddenly feeling overheated.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Katherine declares. She’s not even looking at Jack, instead she’s watching Davey for his reaction. She pins him with a knowing smirk, and Davey blushes even harder, privately wishing for a nice, cozy sinkhole to open up beneath him and put him out of his misery.

“I dunno,” Jack murmurs dubiously, not noticing the exchange. “What do you think, Dave? Does it live up to your expectations?”

Davey really wishes Jack would stop asking for his opinion. He already feels like he’s suffocating—Jack could at least do him the courtesy of letting him die unharassed.

“...I think it looks good,” Davey mutters into the floor.

Jack does another turn. “I still think the blue one woulda been nice...”

“Get the tie,” Katherine orders.

“But—“

“Get the tie before I stab you with these fabric scissors.”

Jack ends up leaving with two vest-and-pants combinations, one in black and one in gray, four dress shirts in various colors, the promised suspenders, a new pair of shoes, and the red silk tie. Katherine leaves with an incredibly satisfied expression and Davey leaves with significantly elevated blood pressure.

As they walk back home, Katherine says, “So do you want me to hold on to everything, or do you want Davey to?”

“What?” Jack asks.

“Who do you want to keep your new clothes, me or Davey?” Katherine repeats.

Jack and Davey stare at her, not grasping her meaning.

“You don’t have anywhere to keep them at the Lodging House, and I would say you could see if Medda would let you keep them at the theater but I know they wouldn’t last the day before they were covered in paint,” Katherine explains. “So? Me or Davey?”

“I guess I’ll have Davey keep ‘em for me, if that’s okay,” Jack decides, glancing at Davey for permission. “Probably easier that way.”

“Um, sure, that’s fine,” Davey says, taking the garment bag when Jack hands it to him. “You can get changed at mine, and we can clean and press them for you too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jack agrees. “I’ll just pop over before my shift tomorrow, yeah?”

Davey imagines tomorrow, imagines trying to deal with Jack in a suit and tie first thing in the morning, and can feel his expression start to falter. “Sounds good,” he says weakly.

00000

Chapter two here

[hcywards]

you’ll be fine — pope heyward

summary: in which pope is nervous for his interview and his girlfriend is there to calm him down.

words: 1.3k of pure fluff

t/w: swearing,, but apart from that it’s literally all fluff.

request: this was a request from @letsgofullkook !

“I haven’t been able to think of something that I’d necessarily want, but maybe Pope’s running over questions for his interview and being super stressed out before it!”

note: tysm for requesting, this idea was so cute i love it. uhh sorry that this ones a little short. apparently i dont know how to just write fluff hahaha but i hope you like it. && also i know this isn’t the exact request however i have never been to an interview for a school so i had no idea what the questions would be hahaha.

     Anxiety is an emotion we’re all used to.

     We know exactly how it feels, how we react to it, how we deal with it. In fact, some of us even know how others deal with it. That could be said for Y/N L/N and Pope Heyward, the latter of whom tended to hide his emotions behind a stoic expression and calm words.

     Y/N, however, knew different.

     After dating him for the best part of a year, and being friends with him for far longer, it would only take her a second to work out exactly what he was feeling. And, right now, that feeling was the sickening, terrifying concoction of nervousness, excitement, anticipation and stress, that sent your mind whirling and your body buzzing.

    Y/N watched him from the sun bed, sprawled out across it. They’d been sat there for hours in almost-silence, and she was growing bored of listening to him mumble to himself, scribble down words on a page and then shuffle them around. There were only so many times she could deal with listening to him repeat a sentence, and she was nearing the end of that count as she glanced over to him again, eyes raking from one nervous twitch to another.

     Pope’s fingers were drumming against his thigh as he sat, his other leg bouncing at a rapid pace. The hammock was swinging to and fro beneath him, jolting a little at the speed at which his leg was bouncing as he read through his scholarship essay.

     Y/N sighed quietly, though that didn’t seem to stir him from his thoughts. She looked at his face, wondering if he was aware that the constant drumming of his fingers was now getting irritating. Probably not.

     “Pope,” she called out to him, her voice soft so as not to make him jump. He did anyway, suddenly jolted out of his thoughts as he looked up. “Calm down. You’ll be fine.”

     “Okay, but, statistically speaking, the chances of me getting this scholarship right now are like, slim to none,” he responded, his words slurred at their quick pace. He didn’t make any moves to explain further, looking back down and reading through the paper he’d already read at least eight times in the past hour.

     Y/N snorted, “Pope, for a guy who’s a literal genius, I think you’re kind of dumb.”

     “You know, you’re great help, Y/N. Really great. Thanks,” he stated, tone dripping with sarcasm. He was spending too much time with Kie. “Now, please, let me concentrate.”

     Y/N sighed, shifting around in the sun bed to make herself more comfortable, and watching him continue to mouth the words to himself as he memorised them. His finger drumming continued for a few minutes before she got bored again, and she sat up, bringing her legs over the edge of the sunbed to face him. There were two ways to calm Pope down from when he got like this — the first was to try and convince him that there was nothing to worry about.

     “You’ll do great,” she soothed, “Trust me.”

     He looked up at her again, eyes wide. His heart was hammering in her chest, mind running a million miles per minute and still repeating the essay he didn’t know how to perfect. “Look, Y/N, this is the biggest opportunity of my life. If I don’t get in, I don’t know—” His voice cracked, and he looked away from her for a second, regaining his typically relaxed composure, though they both knew he was far from relaxed. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”

     “Pope. you’re literally, like, the smartest guy in the whole of the OBX. Of course you’ll get in.” she responded. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

     “There’s actually a lot for me to worry about,” he stated. “I mean, for one—”

     Before he could finish, Y/N was snatching his papers out of his palms and beginning to read them. He watched impatiently, studying her face intently to try and work out what she thought, but to no avail.

     Once she’d finished reading, she looked up at him with a dumbfounded expression, and he frowned, tilting his head to the side as he waited for her to tell her what she thought.

     “Pope, do you really think this needs editing?” she asked. “This is the best fucking thing I’ve ever read.”

     “You’ve literally read, like, Shakespeare, Y/N,” he retorted. 

     Y/N waved the paper in front of his face, rolling her eyes. “Pope, look, I’m not kidding. If they don’t let you in after this, they don’t deserve you. And I know you have to get in, but, honestly, Pope, there’s no way in hell you’re not going to. Please, just trust me on this one.”

     He looked at Y/N, disbelief obvious in his dark eyes, and his girlfriend gave him a supportive smile. His anxiety was far from gone, and she knew that — but she also knew he was one of the most stubborn people she’d ever met, and he’d be extremely difficult to convince of anything but what he’d been telling herself.

     So she opted for the second option, which was comforting. She moved to push him down to laying on the hammock, and he frowned, obviously uncertain as to what she was doing. She gave him another smile, trapping his papers underneath a coffee mug. The liquid inside had long since gone cold, abandoned and forgotten about in the boy’s need to work. She turned back to him, laying down by his side and wrapping an arm around his torso.

     “When was the last time you slept, Pope?” she asked as he began to melt into her touch, putting an arm around her shoulders as he looked up to the cloudless, summer sky.

     He scoffed. “I don’t need sleep, Y/N. I need to work. The interview’s in, like, three days, and it’s got to be perfect.”

     “It is perfect, Pope, but that’s not the answer to my question.” Y/N replied, looking up at him and studying his profile intently. The bags under his eyes were dark and puffy, and it was fairly obvious he hadn’t gotten enough sleep in days. The real question was, though: was he going to admit it?

     He sighed after a moment, knowing there was no way he could convince her of anyhting but the truth. She saw right past him, and she always had. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

     “Go to sleep then, Pope. You’ll be able to work better when you aren’t tired,” she stated, and he did just that. 

     They fell asleep curled up in each others arms, the thoughts of the interview far from their minds as they properly relaxed for what seemed to be the first time in days, and Pope woke up knowing exactly what he wanted to fix about his essay, meaning Y/N’s attempt at calming him down had actually worked when noone else’s had.

     Though, really, where was the surprise there? After all, they did know next to everything about each other, including what made the other calm, apparently.

taglist! there is a form in my description if you would like to be added! 

@spilledtee @dpaccione @thorsangel

[percimmonhellyeah]

Reality - Thomxiety Vore

Virgil never thought he’d ever end up in the physical world, one of his worst nightmares, but thank goodness Thomas has a solution.

Ship: Thomas (Character) x Prey!Virgil

Word Count: 3.5k

tw: very detailed vore, implied digestion

--------------------

It was around six o’clock when the sun slowly started to rise from its slumber and start to brighten the day. The sky turned a light blue as morning came to wake everyone up. Thomas’ room was quiet as usual, nothing disturbing his sleep from last night. Though, while in a dream, he noticed he didn’t feel quite like himself. It almost felt like a part of him had vanished, but he simply pushed those thoughts to the side, thinking it might’ve just been Remus messing with him again like usual. By the morning, he’d feel okay, right?

The warm, moving floor suddenly woke up Virgil, too sleepy to really process what was happening. Slowly, he glanced around realizing this wasn’t the last place he slept. Confusion only filled his racing head. “Where in the world am I?” Virgil thought, a bit of anxiety starting to flow through him. Looking up, he saw what seemed to be a large fabric on top of him. The warmth between the moving floor and the giant piece of fabric seemed to try and make him fall asleep. Though, suddenly, a sharp realization hit him. As farfetched as his idea was, it only seemed to be the most reasonable explanation. It seemed to be the only explanation! As scared as he was, he begrudgingly tried to crawl his way out from under the gigantic fabric that was keeping him trapped.

 As soon as Virgil saw an opening, he quickly crawled out into the light. A chillness instantly hit him as he crawled out and it took a while for his eyes to properly adjust. But as soon as his eyes adjusted, he wanted to go back under the blankets as he saw the giant head of Thomas. The moving floor he was crawling on must’ve been Thomas’ stomach and the big fabric was the blanket. The small side shook in fear. He never remembered being summoned. Had his nightmares come to life? Quickly, he slapped his face, hoping to knock some sense into himself but it only hurt. Hurt!? Being hurt physically only happened to Thomas. Since all the sides were in Thomas’ mind, they couldn’t physically get hurt. He touched the cheek he slapped and noticed that it was still sore. This was a living nightmare… He got stuck into reality…

“T-T-Thomas?” Virgil stuttered as he stood up on top of Thomas’ chest. Looking down, he saw how Thomas’ chest moved up and down with each breath the giant took in his slumber.  He slowly walked over toward the massive head, shaking a bit due to the moving chest below him. “Thomas?” He whispered, even more quieter than the last. The fear inside him tried to take over but he made sure to keep some composure and maybe figure out what exactly was happening. Momentarily, he glanced to the giant window that he had seen many times before in the morning when Thomas would get out of bed, but now seeing it with his own eyes felt weird. All the sides were able to tune into what Thomas was looking at but to see with his own eyes while Thomas was sound asleep was quite scary.

Virgil knew quite a few of the sides would love to have a physical body instead of being stuck in Thomas’ mind all day every day, but a lot of things about reality scared him. He’d have to manage without the other sides if he wanted to live in Thomas’ reality. Physically getting hurt was something he never wished to experience, and he intended to keep that. As crazy as it sounded, he wanted to stay inside Thomas’ mind where all he needed to deal with was his emotional hurt. The small side continued to walk toward Thomas’ face, a scrap of hope keeping him from breaking down.

Virgil finally made it up to Thomas’ face and gently touched the bottom of his chin. Fear flowed all over his body as he touched the bottom of Thomas' smooth chin, though he wasn't entirely sure why he felt so scared near Thomas. He knew this person for his entire life! He was a part of him! So why was he trembling now? His tiny feet felt Thomas’ heartbeat underneath him, making his whole body seem to pulse in rhythm with it. Out of curiosity, he placed two fingers to his neck, mesmerized at how in sync their heartbeats were. It calmed him down a bit more and gave him the courage to finally try and wake up Thomas.

Quickly, Virgil tried to scramble up his chin but soon fell. He once again tried to climb up onto Thomas’ face. It felt he finally got a foothold until his foot suddenly slipped and he tumbled down onto the bed. It took him a moment to know where he was. A dizziness in his head made him feel like his body was twisting and turning in all the wrong directions and his head only seemed to grow heavier as he tried to stand. Finally, after a full minute, he was able to see where he was.

Virgil’s world felt like it completely crashed down as he looked up at the giant. He knew it was only Thomas, but tears quickly started to flow down to the bed. Instinctively, he backed away, his nerves completely acting up, making him see only a giant who could hurt him in this giant world. As he continued to back up, Thomas started to wake up and slowly sat up. The tiny legs that carried Virgil failed him, feeling too weak to even stand up. He crawled backwards, wanting to get away as far away from the giant as possible. Tears completely covered his vision, the giant’s fast movements scaring him. It scared him so much that his hand slipped once again, and he started to tumble off the bed.

Frantically, Virgil grabbed on to the bedsheets, the height of where he was terrifying him. His head pounded and rang, only heightening his anxiety and fear. The floor to him was a death sentence, and if he let go, he knew he was done for. He used up every ounce of strength in his body to try and pull himself back up, but it was no use. The small side dangled into what seemed like death itself waiting for him to drop into the abyss. Finally, he felt the bed suddenly bounce from the giant crashing back down onto the bed, making him let go and finally fall to the ground.

Time seemed to slow down as Virgil’s tiny body fell. In his heart, he was convinced no one would save him from his perilous fall. Doom only seemed to lure him further to the ground until something abruptly stopped his descent. He shook his head, confused at what just exactly happened but soon noticed the uncanny amount of warmth he felt while laying down. Once he got his senses back together, realization hit him. The enormous fingers seemed to tower over him as he was lifted up close to the giant’s face. He cowered, scrunching up into a ball, crying into his knees, the salty tear dripping down onto the ferocious beast that held him. Instead of falling to his death, maybe this would be the end of him. He only hoped it would be quick.

“Virgil?”, Virgil heard the giant say in the most concerned voice he’d ever heard. How did they know his name? They called out his name again, making the small side cower even more. The constant pounding from his head plus the dizziness that spread through his tiny body made it hard for him to think much at all, but after a good minute, the giant’s voice sounded soothing, and almost familiar… A warmth completely wrapped him that he hadn’t expected, and he heard the thump of something nearby. It was something he’d hear when one of the other sides would embrace him when he wasn’t feeling all that good.

“Virgil? Are you okay?” The giant said again. Virgil, as much as he thought it’d hurt him, dared to look up at the giant’s face, and suddenly the hazy, black mist that concealed his eyes from seeing the truth, uncovered a beady eyed Thomas Sanders. A sigh of relief filled his lungs as he smiled and continued to look up at his host. Never in his life did he think just seeing Thomas would fill him with such joy. He cuddled into his chest and cried again, not because of an overwhelming fear, but because he had finally found some solace in what felt like an inescapable situation. No longer did he feel scared in this gentle giant’s grasp but only the tender love of someone he knew would never try to hurt him.

Both Thomas and Virgil simply enjoyed each other’s presence for a few minutes, both wanting to calm down from the situation. Thomas gently started to pet Virgil with his index finger and Virgil quickly leaned into it, the pure bliss of comfort taking over his whole body. It almost felt like everything was still normal and he was still in his room in Thomas’ mind. He really wished it were like that, but reality soon came back to him. He had to get back in Thomas’ mind, but how?

“Are you good now, Virgil?” Thomas asked, his voice as soft as the moon rising.

“I-… I’m good now,” Virgil said to his giant friend.  

“Why don’t we get some breakfast to eat?”

 ~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil sat down on Thomas’ table as he cooked some pancakes and bacon for both of them. His stomach was grumbling for something to eat and it would be nice to have a full belly before he talked to Thomas about how to get back in his head. He couldn’t wait to go back, even if it meant dealing with all the other sides’ company again. Suddenly, the thought of Patton popped into his head. “I wonder if they’re worried that I’m gone…” he thought to himself, “I wonder if they’ve even notice I’m missing…” He looked down at the table trying not to entertain the thought lest he cry and break down again.

The scent of pancakes and bacon filled the air as Thomas brought over breakfast. His stomach growled, having wanted something to eat since they came downstairs. He smiled when Thomas placed the giant tea plate with food next to him. The food also seemed to be small enough so he could easily eat. Thomas soon sat down just across from Virgil with his regular sized plate, which looked enormous compared to his size.

“Sorry I couldn’t find any plates that were for your size, but I hope the tea plate’s fine,” Thomas said, his voice a bit groggy from his tiredness.

“It’s okay… Thanks for making me breakfast,” Virgil said, yawning.

Virgil soon took a bite at his awaiting pancakes and bacon. Instantly, joy rushed through his entire tiny body. Something about eating like this, in the physical world, made the food taste more enjoyable. He practically scarfed down everything off his plate at once without uttering a single word to Thomas. The other simply looked in awe at just how fast he was eating. Even though he was still tiny, he certainly still had much strength. He continued to eat and waited until Virgil was done.

After a good ten minutes, both were done eating their hearty breakfast. Thomas simply smiled at Virgil, wanting to make him feel as welcomed as possible, even with the situation they were both in. Virgil was laying down on the table after he ate but soon sat back up, only to see Thomas warmly smile at him. A blush quickly covered his entire tiny face, and he tried to hide it, even though it was very obvious his face was bright red. 

“Are you full now, Virgil?” Thomas said, his voice tender and sweet.

“I-I’m good… Sorry for stuffing my face so quickly…” Virgil squeaked, his voice a bit shaky.

“It’s okay… Sometimes I do that, too! Now, about how to get back in my head…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Both Thomas and Virgil had a great time together that day, watching movies, playing games, and simply talking to each other. As anxious as Virgil was being completely separate from Thomas’ mind, he knew Thomas did his best to make him feel comfortable and safe from harm. Not once did he feel in danger from the outside world. The soft glow of the moon soon filled Thomas’ room, illuminating the place. It felt almost magical to Virgil, even though he’d seen the moon countless times. Virgil continued to look out at the full moon with Thomas near his window. Just for this alone, maybe it was worth staying here in reality.

Soon, Virgil felt Thomas move and slowly lay on his bed. He was gently set on Thomas’ big chest and felt their enormous heart thump under him. It was something he would certainly remember with his time with this gentle giant. Soon, he looked up at their gigantic, loving face and spoke.

“So, you’re completely sure this’ll work? And I’ll be fine?” Virgil asked, of course, still anxious about the whole idea.

“I promise nothing will hurt you…” Thomas said softly.

Virgil looked down at Thomas’s chest as he sat. He tried hard not to think about the horrible ways this could go wrong, but his mind couldn’t help but torment him, the most gruesome of ways his life could end. A surge of confusing emotions filled him, making him shake a little. Suddenly, he felt himself being touched.

“I love you, Virgil…” Thomas whispered as he planted a gentle kiss on the tiny boy, “We can start whenever you’re ready…”

Virgil’s tiny face turned bright red, contrasting with the cool colors of the room. Never in his life did he ever think someone would kiss him at all! Though the small kiss Thomas gave him only lasted for a few seconds, he knew the love and sweetness that was there would last for a lifetime. Finally, he lifted his tiny head up to look at Thomas.

“I’m ready,” he said while nodding.

And with that, Thomas gently scooped Virgil off his chest. Virgil’s tiny heart raced, not out of fear, but from wonder and awe as he was lifted up to the bigger one’s lips, the ones that lovingly kissed him. Soon, Thomas’s maw opened up, a hot breath washing over his whole body. From his angle, he could see every part of their mouth clearly and noticed just how beautiful it was. Their teeth were almost a pure white, their tongue looked as soft as a marshmallow, and not a single bite mark or injury lined the inside of their cheeks. As much as he wanted to admire Thomas’ beautiful mouth from afar, he knew he’d have to go in sooner or later, or he’d be stuck in this physical world. So, without anymore hesitation, he crawled into their warm mouth and was covered in darkness.

Thomas felt Virgil finally go into his mouth, and, instantly, he was hit with a rich mocha flavor with a hint of bitterness on his tongue. Out of all the sides who have accidentally appeared in his reality, he never had a side that tasted so intense and so good. He truly could keep Virgil in his mouth all day without a problem if he could. Soon, he felt them almost melt in his mouth, simply relaxing on top of his own tongue. Though he didn’t want to interrupt their relaxation, he did need to get them down to his stomach eventually, so he started to gently lick and roll them around in his mouth. This only made their sweet, mocha flavor even more intense and his mouth started to water.

The sudden movement startled Virgil a bit but he soon started to laugh, the licking tickling him. He would’ve tried to stop or push the tongue away, but he felt so happy that he simply didn’t care. In fact, this made him even like being in Thomas’ mouth, as weird as it sounded to him. Suddenly, he felt Thomas squish him to the roof of his mouth, making him start to giggle again. Something about this just felt so calm to him. A hum soon echoed through their mouth, making him blush. It was nice seeing that Thomas was enjoying this as much as he was. Finally, their tongue stopped pressing him up against the roof of their mouth and he started to slowly slide down to the entrance of their throat.

Virgil looked down the dark abyss that was Thomas’ throat. A spike of fear ran through his body as he tried to process what was happening. He tried to convince himself that it would be safe, and he’d be fine. But he quickly shook his head. “This is safe…” he thought to himself, “Thomas would never hurt me…” With that, he felt their head tip more and he felt his legs being swallowed down first. The muscles seemed to tightly hold on to his legs as he tried to calm down a bit more. Another swallow brought him down to his chest, only his head poking out. He looked around, taking in his surroundings before finally disappearing into their throat.

A small bulge formed as Thomas swallowed down Virgil. He gently touched and followed their small body until they disappeared down into his chest. There was a bit of squirming he felt but he didn’t mind. His throat must’ve been tight after all. Virgil, on the other hand, noticed just how clearly he could hear Thomas’ heartbeat and breathing, both calming him down as he continued to descend down to his stomach. As much as he’d thought this would be uncomfortable, this was rather soothing for him. The muscles seemed to only massage him instead of crush him which was what he thought would happen. Suddenly, his feet seemed to enter into an open space. Soon followed his legs then his whole body, finally falling down into the large stomach.

Once Virgil sat up, he was completely mesmerized at how Thomas’ stomach felt. It was quite dark so he couldn’t see very well but he could tell what it would look like from the folds of the stomach walls and hearing the drops of mucus drip to the floor. Soon, he stood up, amazed by how safe he felt inside them. He noticed there was a tiny pool of liquid he was standing in, but he didn’t mind it much since it didn’t hurt him. Though, there wasn’t much to see, he could feel his way around the large stomach. Gently, he pressed a hand to the walls of the stomach to guide him as he walked around. Something about it just felt so comforting, felling all the little bends and folds throughout it. Suddenly, a large hum rang through not long after he touched the stomach walls. It took him a bit but soon realized it was a hum of joy from Thomas. It must’ve felt like he was rubbing him from the outside.

Virgil gently laid down, the walls’ folds embracing him. With one hand, he started to rub at the soft walls of Thomas’ stomach, hoping the other would enjoy it. Instantly, another hum rang through the wet cave, making him smile. Suddenly, he felt a pressure from the walls gently lift him up a bit, and he simply smiled more as he realized Thomas was rubbing where he was. He snuggled into their stomach walls where they rubbed his tiny body and he let himself relax into the folds.

“Are you good down there?” Virgil heard Thomas ask, the voicing echoing throughout the stomach.

“I’m good! It’s… very nice down here!” Virgil said as he continued to rub Thomas.

The warmth of the stomach finally started to lull Virgil, making him yawn and snuggle into the walls more. It almost felt like a blanket was wrapped around him as his eyes grew heavy. It almost seemed like he was melting into the stomach walls. A sense of bliss washed over him as he cuddled into the stomach walls one last time.

“Good night, Virgil…” Thomas said as he felt Virgil snuggle into the walls.

“Good night, Thomas…” Virgil said as he finally closed his eyes and slept.

~~~~~~~~~~  

Light shone through the window as sunrise came. It illuminated the entire living room with its sweet and warm glow. Not a howl from the wind or a drop from the rain echoed inside the living room. All was still and quiet, until Virgil finally awoke, and noticed he was laying on the living room couch.

“Virgil!” He heard Logan, Patton, and Roman scream in unison. He was tackled and absolutely smothered in affection from all the sides at once.

“Are you okay, Virgil? We saw everything!” Patton exclaimed out.

“Are you in any distress?” Logan chimed in.

“I-… Okay I missed you, you emo,” Roman said calmly with a smile.

“I mean, apart from all of you screaming my name, I’m pretty fine,” Virgil said.

And with that, they all decided to eat some breakfast, happy that Virgil was safe and back home.

[vannahfanfics]

On The Airwaves

Category: Childhood Fluff

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Characters: Rumi Usagiyama, Tenko Shimura

Requested By: On_kamis_green_earth (Ao3)

Rumi’s ears swiveled as she jaunted out of the candy store, busily licking a large rainbow-swirled lollipop while another hand clutched several bags of carrot-shaped marshmallow candies to her front. Drool leaked a little from her lips, blotting onto her jean overalls, which she rubbed away with her wrist. The bags of marshmallows crinkled with the action, making her ears twitch in response. 

The sensitive hairs of her ears quivered as they were barraged with sounds; it had taken several attempts for Rumi to brave the noisiness of their city’s grandiose shopping mall, but over time, her senses had adjusted to the sheer volume of vibrations permeating the spacious structure. She could even hone in on specific sounds pleasing to her ears and tended to prefer the gentle tune of the pleasant music spilling from the loudspeakers to the incessant chatter of the thousands of shoppers. 

Normally, that is— now that Rumi had accomplished her mission of acquiring sweets, she had the task of reuniting with her parents, who were browsing somewhere in the depths of the compound. Eyes bright as she lapped at the saccharine lollipop, Rumi set to walking. Her long, white ears turned constantly on her head to scan the airwaves for her parents’ voices. 

When Rumi went on errands such as these, they made a point to speak louder so that it was easier when she began searching for them. The thought made little Rumi flush with adoration; she really did have such considerate folks. Most parents would balk at the idea of letting a young child loose in a crowded mall, but Rumi was independent— and more importantly, could easily break a would-be kidnapper’s shins. 

Rumi made a face of distaste as she passed the mall’s food plaza. Even with acclimation to the noisy environment, walking past the jam-packed congregation of restaurants and customers always made her ears ring. She flattened the appendages to her head, lessening the pain somewhat, and stalked past the palace as quickly as she could. When she was a safe distance away, she raised her ears again— and heard the distinct sound of a child crying. 

Her eyebrows furrowed deeply as she halted in place, causing a few disgruntled shoppers to grumpily go around. She remained still as her ears whirled left and right on her head, trying to follow the source of the disturbing sound waves. Her feet followed the petulant sniffles into a small hallway tucked between the storefronts— a side exit with bathrooms, benches, and vending machines. Hunkered down by a potted fern was a little boy with wavy black hair, scrubbing at his teary face. 

“Hello,” Rumi announced as she stopped in front of him. He released a strange mix between a wheeze and a squeak as his head snapped up to stare at her with wide, teary eyes. “There’s no need to be frightened,” she reassured him with a cheeky grin. “What’re your name?” 

“T-Tenko,” the boy offered reluctantly as he rubbed at the underside of his left eye with the heel of his palm. She wondered if he did that often, based on the way his skin cracked and flaked beneath his eyelid. “What’s yours?” 

“Rumi. Are ya lost?” 

Tenko’s cheeks flushed pink and he looked miserably back down at his lap. After a few seconds, he meekly nodded his head in affirmation. His sniffles returned as shame rushed through his body; it would be much harder to get information out of him while he was sobbing, so Rumi had to act fast. 

“Hey, hey, don’t cry!” she chirped while squatting down in front of him. “S’okay! Everybody gets lost sometimes. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.” Tenko peered at her through the tresses of his long black hair, eyes gleaming hopefully as he considered Rumi’s words. “Here, you want some candy? These are my favorite, but you look like you could use some,” she said while offering him one of the bags of candy marshmallows. His hand appeared from beneath one of his too-long shirt sleeves; the bag crinkled under his dry, cracking fingers as he gripped it tight. Rumi watched with meaningfully raised eyebrows as he carefully tore the package open and popped one into his mouth. 

“Mmm… Shweet,” he mumbled around a mouthful of the gooey, sticky marshmallow. 

“Aren’t they? It’s just a shame they don’t taste like carrots!” she huffed with an angry twitch of her ears. Tenko swallowed the marshmallow and looked at her in utter bewilderment. 

“You like carrots?” 

“Of course! They’re delicious! Crunchy and munchy and— hey, are you laughing?” she accused with a snort through her nose. The candy marshmallows gently bounced in the bag as Tenko chuckled, holding his knuckles up to his chapped lips. 

“Sorry… S’just kinda funny, because you’re a rabbit.” Rumi’s ears drooped along with the corners of her lips as she gave him a pout. If only she had a carrot for every time she’s heard that! Still, she didn’t say anything because it was a relief to see a half-formed smile playing over his scratched-up, teary face. 

“All right, all right, have your laugh!” she huffed after he wiped the giddy tears from the corners of his eyes. “This rabbit is gonna help you find your folks, thank you very much!” 

“Really? How?” 

“With these!” she asserted with a sharp point to her long, fluffy ears. Tenko’s eyes slowly drifted up to the twitching appendages sprouting from her mane of silvery hair. “My ears are super-duper sensitive! I can hear everything in this mall— including your parents, which I’m sure are looking for you. We’ll just wander around until we find ‘em,” she explained, putting one hand on her hip with her other hand jutting up her index finger, like a professor explaining a vital point. With his mouth in an awed “o,” Tenko nodded understandingly. 

With a small “hup!” and a slap of her powerful thighs, Rumi straightened back up to her feet and offered Tenko a hand. He shyly rolled up the sleeve of his sweater so he could grip it tightly and allow her to pull him to his feet. Rather than letting go, she just laced their fingers and tugged him out of the small hallway. 

“B-but—!” he protested, the pale skin of his face flushing with a bright red blush. Rumi flashed him a toothy grin and waved her half-dissolved lollipop emphatically. 

“So you don’t get lost again, silly!” 

Tenko swallowed loudly, clearly unsettled by her decision, but did not protest. He just tottered alongside her, holding the bag of carrot marshmallows to his chest as Rumi led him back into the depths of the mall.

“Now, let’s see,” she hummed thoughtfully as she swiveled her ears to and fro, “do you remember what your parents were shopping for?” 

“School clothes,” Tenko answered quietly. “For me and my little sister…” 

“Okay. There are lots of big department stores here, so we’ll just make a circuit of the mall, starting with that one!” she decided with a point of her lollipop to the closest store, a two-story clothing store that carried both casual and dress items. “We’ll eventually have to run into them. Do you think they’ve noticed you’re gone?” she asked as she toted him through the sliding glass double doors. Tenko let out a small sniff and shrugged. 

“I don’t know… Daddy was yelling at my mom for spending too much money on my clothes, and I ran away while they were arguing,” he explained miserably. Rumi raised her eyebrows in shock. Her parents never yelled in front of her, and she couldn’t fathom her father being angry about how much money was spent on her. If anything, they loved to dote on Rumi and make sure she had everything she needed. Parents come in all kinds, she realized solemnly. 

“I’m sorry, Tenko. That sounds really rough. I’m sure your mom and dad will work it out, though,” she reassured as she offered him a smile. Tenko peered out from beneath his bangs, and Rumi was relieved to see his lips curl up just a hint. 

“Yeah… They argue a lot, but they always do.” 

Rumi tried not to let her heartbreak show on her face. She couldn’t imagine what it was like, having to live with parents who bickered day in and day out. She almost had half a mind to abandon Tenko’s parents and take her home with him instead! Actually… 

“Hey! Why don’t you just come live with me?” she posed, stopping in the middle of an aisle to give Tenko a huge grin. “My parents are awesome! They never fight, and they would give you all the clothes you could ever want and more! I’m sure you’d be much happier.” 

Tenko gaped at her in utter bewilderment. After a few seconds of processing the rabbit girl’s ludicrous suggestion, he flushed and looked down at the toes of his Velcro sneakers. The plastic bag of marshmallows crinkled under his fidgeting fingers. 

“That does sound nice, but… Even though my parents argue, I couldn’t leave them. I love my Mommy, and my sister, and my dog…” he said uncertainly. Rumi wriggled her nose, then shrugged with indifference. 

“All right! If you say so!” she said in a sing-song voice before tugging on his arm again. Tenko squeaked as he was suddenly jerked forward, and he clumsily fell back in step with his headstrong companion. Rumi hummed a pleasant tune as she swiveled her ear, scanning the sounds drifted just above the racks of clothes in the large carpeted spaces on either side of the tiled pathways. 

Young women perused the latest trends, holding up cute shirts and dresses to their frames with pursed lips. A businessman chatted to his boss on the phone as he compared how a tie would look with his dress shirt. Two young children played hide-and-seek amongst the racks while their grandmother looked on with a pleased chuckle— but Rumi didn’t hear any sign of Tenko’s parents. Just as she was thinking about moving on to the next store, a frantic cry drifted down the whirring steps of the escalator. 

“Tenko?! Tenko, where are you?” 

“Honey, he couldn’t have gotten far—” 

“This is your fault!” the woman snapped; Rumi could hear the air rushing around her dress as she whirled on the man speaking. “You made him feel guilty! You should be ashamed of yourself, taking out your anger on our child! Tenko has nothing to do with our finances and you know that.” 

“Honey…” 

“Oh, my poor baby… He’s probably lost and alone and upset… Tenko? Tenko!” 

Tenko couldn’t hear his mother calling as Rumi could, so he scrunched up his face in confusion as the girl sucked in an excited breath. 

“Come on, Tenko! I think I found ‘em!” she grinned as she took off for the escalator. Rather than riding them up, she hopped up the steel steps, practically dragging the stumbling boy behind her. She jerked to a halt once she reached the summit, causing Tenko to bump into her back with a yelp. She frowned deeply, ears turning furiously to pinpoint the upset mother’s location. 

“Rumi, my nose— Ah!” Tenko didn’t have time to complain about his nose slamming into her back as she took off towards the children’s section of the store. Their breaths came in little pants as their feet slapped against the tile; above the symphony of their frantic dash, the panicked chant of “Tenko, Tenko, Tenko!” gradually rose in intensity. 

“Mommy?!” the boy exclaimed when he finally heard his mother’s call. “Mommy! I’m over here!” 

As if summoned, a woman dashed out from between some racks of young boy’s clothes, head snapping around wildly. She appeared so suddenly that Rumi had no time to stop running; the soles of her sneakers slid uselessly over the tile as she all but careened into the woman’s legs. Tenko’s mother exclaimed in shock as the rabbit girl slammed into the plumes of her skirt, and Tenko behind her. 

“Oh, my goodness—! Oh, Tenko!” she cried as the black-haired boy rubbed his nose, which had slammed into Rumi’s back again. She crushed Rumi against her legs in her attempts to bend down and hug her son. “I’m so relieved! Honey, why did you run off like that? You had me so worried—! Oh, what’s this?” Her babbles ceased when she registered Rumi’s indignant squeaks within the cloth of her dress. When she straightened up, Rumi crawled out from between her calves, gasping for breath. “Who’s this?” 

“This is my friend Rumi! She helped me find you,” Tenko explained. Rumi tugged her lollipop off of the woman’s dress, plucked away the fibers clinging to its sticky surface, and then shoved the entire thing into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged around the large circular candy and drool dripped from her lips. She garbled a salutation around the lolly, but it came out as senseless gurgling. Tenko’s mother chuckled, endeared by Rumi’s antics. 

“Hello, Rumi. Thank you for bringing Tenko back to me.” 

The lollipop made a popping sound as she took it out of her mouth. She wiped at her lips with her wrist before flashing a rainbow-dyed smile. 

“No problem! I’m gonna be a hero someday, so jobs like this are nothing!” 

Tenko sucked in a breath of adoration. He clutched his mother’s skirts, looking around cautiously, before leaning in close to whisper to her. 

“I wanna be a hero too…” 

“Really? That’s awesome,” Rumi purred admiringly. “We can be hero buddies someday!” 

“It sounds like you’ve made a really nice friend, Tenko.” At his mother’s praise, the boy shyly buried his face into her dress and smiled charmingly at Rumi, who continued to lick her lolly unabashedly. When he went to hand her back her marshmallows, she shook her head. 

“Those’re yours! Think of it as a present!” Tenko looked wide-eyed at the bag, then crushed them against his chest, turning red in the face as he beamed. 

“Rumi, dear, where are your parents?” 

“I dunno. I haven’t found them yet. I was distracted lookin’ for you!” she shrugged nonchalantly. As Tenko’s mother exclaimed an “Oh dear!” Tenko gaped at her. 

“Wait… You’re lost, too?” 

“No!” she refuted with a stamp of her foot. “I am not! My parents let me go to the candy store alone all the time because I can find them! Duh!” 

“Oh…” Tenko blushed, shrinking back into his mother’s skirts. Rumi snorted and shoved her lolly into one cheek, enabled by her rabbit-like pouches.

“Anyway,” she drooled around it, “I should go find them, I guessh. They’ll worry evenshually.” 

“My, what a spirited young girl you are. I’m glad that Tenko found such a dependable friend!” the woman laughed. She dug into her purse to procure a pen and a notepad, scrawling something down before ripping off the sheet and handing it to her. “Here is my phone number. You can call and talk to Tenko anytime, and I’m sure he’d love to play with you again!” To emphasize his mother’s assumption, Tenko nodded eagerly. Rumi folded up the scrap of paper and shoved it down into her overall pocket before giving them both a thumbs-up. 

“Bye-bye, Rumi,” Tenko said bashfully as his mother waved politely and began to lead him away. 

“See ya later! Don’t get lost again!” she called, sucking on her lollipop as she watched them vanish into the rack of clothes. She listened for a moment, hearing his little sister squeal in delight in his return and his father begrudgingly offer an apology. While she still ruminated on the idea of stealing Tenko away, she supposed she could be satisfied with his family, for now. 

She smiled around the lollipop as she heard Tenko whisper a shy, “Thanks for saving me, Rumi…” that only her attuned ears could hear. 

With her mission accomplished, Rumi whirled on her heel. One set of parents had been located, but now she had another to find in the depths of the mall! At least she had her yummy lolly… Still, she found her steps quickening. She could hardly wait to tell them all about her new friend and hurry home so she could call Tenko on the phone so they could set up a proper playdate. She’d even make sure she had some carrots and ranch waiting for him when he came! She couldn’t promise any more carrot marshmallows, after all— they were her favorite! Although… maybe she could save a handful for her new friend. That's what friends did, right?

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